The Right Path
by Suna No Ken
Summary: When the event that shaped him forever happened it was not Shanks who saved Luffy as a boy but someone else instead. Now follow Luffy and friends as he begins his adventure with a twist that is sure to leave the world of One Piece a very different place. Nothing can stop a determined Luffy that is on The Right Path. (No Gum-Gum Fruit. Marine!Luffy with realistic setting)
1. The Man Who Came Instead

_Well here it is, a new series! I got really into One Piece recently and it's cool to be reading it all over again. I wonder if this is going to be the series of mine that I actually end up finishing. Need to go back and update some others too..._

_ANYWAY! I hope that you all come to enjoy this neat little AU of mine! I've planned it out a lot actually and I have faith that I can do this kind of story better than most! Maybe! Probably! Confidence! Meat! _

**Prologue: The Man Who Came Instead**

* * *

In a small seaport, on a lonely island in the East Blue, there stood a boy staring out deep into the blue waters at the edge of the port waiting and hoping to see his friends coming off from the distance. Short with black hair and wide eyes the boy stood like a stone sentinel, his eyes straining against the setting sun on the horizon as the day began to end. The boy sighed and turned his back to the waves as he began walking back into Foosha Village proper.

"No sign of them again today Luffy?" A tall young woman asked from the doorway of a pub as the black haired boy Luffy walked past. Luffy stopped for a moment before giving the woman a large smile, his eyes set and determined.

"Not today Makino, but I know Shanks will come back soon. He's been gone for a few weeks now but I know he'll come. And this time when he does I have a plan to prove to him that I'm strong enough to join his crew." Luffy laughed and punched his fist into his palm before waving it around from hurting himself.

Makino giggled to herself watching Luffy move around exaggeratedly. She ducked inside of her pub for a moment before coming back out and handing Luffy a small bottle of milk. "Here you go Luffy. If you want to grow up to be strong like Shanks you need to drink your milk."

Sighing in relief at the cold bottle in his hurt hand, Luffy gave his thanks to Makino and continued on his way telling her to put the bottle on his 'Treasure Tab'. Makino watched the boy go as she leaned against the wall of her pub again until Luffy was out of sight. Glancing back out to the port and more importantly the sea, Makino sighed lowly and shook her head.

"I'm sorry Luffy." She said to herself as she went inside. "But there's not going to be a next time. Not with Shanks already leaving to the Grand Line." She went to the bar counter and looked at the letter that the red haired man had sent her, along with well wishes to the good people of the village for housing them for a year, and most importantly an apology and promise to Luffy that they would see each other again one day.

* * *

Monkey D. Luffy glared at the mountain bandits that were causing a ruckus in Makino's pub. They were loud and obnoxious and violent. And not in the good way that Shanks' crew always was!

It was bad enough that Makino had told him about the letter and that Shanks was never coming back to the village, but now these thugs were trying to act all tough with his crew gone. Luffy could barely stand it, but he had to endure. If he left then no one would be around to protect Makino from these mountain bastards.

He would endure it. He _had_ to endure it. It was what a real man would do! Nothing could break him with him determined as could be!

* * *

"Please!" The Mayor begged as he knelt on the ground. "If it's money you want we'll pay, just don't hurt the boy."

Luffy did his best to bite back a cry of pain as the mountain bandit leader with the stupid goatee who'd insulted Shanks pressed down harder on his head. The man laughed and began to taunt the Mayor before he pulled out his sword and raised it above Luffy's head. Luffy stared up at the bandit, his eyes hard and resolved to face down whatever was coming no matter what.

Then a voice called out. "I was wondering why no one welcomed me at the port. So this is why." A large man with graying hair in a yellow shirt with red palm trees on it stepped forward between Makino and the Mayor. "You…you're those bandits that started causing trouble in the mountains a little while ago."

Makino blinked then smiled in relief. "Garp." She said thankful that someone that could help was finally here.

Garp glanced at her and gave a slight nod before focusing his attention back ahead of him. "Luffy, how could you lose to these sorry fools? I thought I told you to keep up with your training while I was away. Don't tell me you've been slacking now."

Luffy glared at Garp even while in pain. "S-Shut up!"

The bandit leader motioned his head at Garp and one of his men lifted a pistol right at the advancing mans head. "I suggest you leave right now. All I want to do is teach this boy a lesson by cutting him down a bit. There's no need to add an old man to the body count."

Garp stood his ground, his eyes roving around every bandit member there before he took another step forward. The man with a gun to his head pulled back the hammer and kept the pistol trained on Garp. "Didn't you hear!? You were told not to go any closer!" He laughed as he brought the gun even closer. "Do you want to get shot?"

"…You shouldn't point a gun at someone unless you're prepared to use it." Garp said coldly before in a motion faster than the naked eye could see he disarmed the man and punched him at the ground.

Every bandit froze as they saw their comrade hit the ground. The old man they thought nothing of had just taken down one of their own like it was nothing! Trying to save some face one of the braver members of the group stepped forward while drawing a sword. "N-now you've done it you bastard!"

Garp glared past the man towards his leader and cracked his knuckles. "Don't make me laugh. The man standing before you all is a proud man of the Marines. And you've done the unforgivable by daring to harm my grandson."

Luffy's eyes softened as he looked at Garp standing up for him. "Grandpa…"

The bandit leader laughed wildly at Garp before bringing his sword down closer to Luffy. "Oh it's 'Unforgivable' is it? Ha! You stupid old Marine, you probably just sail on the sea staring at the ocean all the damn day, running from fights that come your way. Everyone knows the only Marines worth a damn are out on the Grand Line! Don't try to act tough and be a hero! 'Unforgivable' you say, well I think you and this brat staying alive is pretty unforgivable!" He pointed at Garp and laughed triumphantly. "Destroy him!"

As all the men charged screaming at Garp the man shook his head. "You idiot bandits." He said in a low voice before he growled and surged forward with his arm cocked back. "Don't overestimate yourselves!"

With one swing of his mighty fist Monkey D. Garp punched the entire group of bandits charging him all at once, sending them flying in different directions. Garp stood up properly and looked forward at the Bandit Leader again. "If you want to fight me you better get an entire fleet of pirates to back you up."

Luffy stared with wide eyes at Garp, the force on his head almost nonexistent now that the bandit leader was losing his confidence. "…Wow…"

The leader stared at his fallen men in shock and panic. "Wait a minute…I-I'll return the boy."

"It doesn't matter." Garp said taking a step forward. "You hurt my grandson and messed with this nice village. And there's a reward on your head. As a Marine I can't let you go no matter what, but I'll definitely enjoy bringing you down."

The leader made a sound of intense worry before he swiftly threw down a smoke bomb. As smoke filled the entire area and people began coughing, Garp lost track of the bandit and Luffy but didn't risk unleashing a punching shockwave to clear the smoke in case he accidentally hurt someone too badly. Closing his eyes and focusing, Garp let his Haki stretch out and find Luffy for him before taking off.

* * *

"Ha ha ha! Look's like I got away from that troublesome old man!" The bandit leader laughed as he began rowing out to sea. "After all no one would think that a mountain bandit would escape by boat!"

As the leader continued gloating Luffy saw something rushing towards the coast. He focused on it before widening his eyes in shock, a smile coming to his face. "Grandpa!" He called out causing the bandit to turn in worry and see Garp closing in on them.

"No! How did that old man find me so fast?" He cried before rowing faster out to sea to try and escape. Just then he got an idea. Grabbing Luffy by the back of his shirt he lifted the boy up and threw him into the water. "You can catch me or you can save the boy old man! Ha ha ha ha!"

"Luffy!" Garp shouted fearing for the boy as he knew he couldn't swim. Garp ran faster and leaped into the water swimming with all his might to make it to his grandson in time. As Luffy tried his best to stay above the water he barely noticed something huge coming up from the water behind him before a large set of jaws snapped down at the small boat of the Bandit Leader swallowing him whole.

Luffy began to panic even more, flailing wildly in the water as the great sea serpent locked its eyes on another potential meal. "AHHH! So…somebody! Help me!" The serpent rushed right towards Luffy, jaws wide to chomp down on it's next meal and end Luffy's life.

"Don't touch my grandson you over grown eel!" Before Luffy's eyes his grandfather suddenly appeared in the water before him, delivering an incredibly powerful uppercut to the sea serpent causing its jaw to snap shut on itself resulting in some of its teeth cracking.

As the serpent flailed in pain it reared itself back and stared at Garp who held Luffy close to him. Garp stared right back at the serpent and raised one fist, his Haki slowly beginning to cover it in an obsidian black color. The serpent hesitated, feeling the incredible power coming off of Garp. Garp pulled his arm back, preparing to attack when the serpent turned tail and swam away, leaving the grandfather and his grandson floating in the water safe at last.

* * *

As the two family members stood on the dock watching the Navy Ship that dropped Garp off for his vacation sail away with it's new prisoners, Garp looked down at Luffy. He noticed the boy looked exhausted from the day's events. With a sigh Garp made his way to sit down, motioning Luffy to do the same.

"How are you feeling Luffy? I heard about how everything started while we were waiting for the ship to take Higuma away. You certainly made a mess of things! Bwahaha!"

Luffy growled lowly and lowered his head glaring at the floor. "He bad mouthed Shanks. For no reason, calling him a coward. I couldn't let him get away with that."

Garp looked at Luffy with an unimpressed expression. "Ehh? That 'Red Hair' still filling your head with that nonsense about becoming a pirate?"

Luffy stood up and let the frustrations of the whole day out on Garp. "I **will** become a pirate! I'm going to be a great pirate and I'll show you and Shanks and everyone else! I'm going to be super strong and have lots of friends and I don't care that everyone says I can't be one! That I'm nothing but an anchor! I can be a great pirate!" Luffy panted out after his rant, glaring at Garp as if challenging him to hit him over the head like the old man always did whenever he told him his ambition.

But, Garp surprised Luffy and stayed quiet. The legendary Marine stared at his grandson for a few moments with a serious expression before he sighed and patted Luffy's head before forcing him to sit back down with a yelp. Garp stared out at the sea, the setting sun sparkling off of the gentle waves of the water and thought over his next words very carefully.

"Luffy. Why do you want to become a pirate?"

Luffy blinked and looked at his grandfather who continued to stare out at the ocean. "Well…because Shanks is a pirate. And because pirates can do anything."

Garp turned and gave Luffy a considering look. "Is that all?"

"I mean…" Luffy paused and scratched his head, thinking hard to try and find something else to say. "Well pirates get to do whatever they want. They don't have to share their meat. They are the most free. That's what I want most in this world grandpa. I want the most freedom in the world."

Garp suddenly burst out laughing startling Luffy. Garp grinned at Luffy and patted his back extra hard almost toppling the poor boy. "Bwahaha! Luffy I'm sure that every other child in the world feels the same way you do! No kid wants to be told what to do they just want to be able to do things! I shudder to think what would happen if each one shared your hard head and tried to be pirates just because of that! There'd be too many pirates for us to handle! Bwahaha!"

Luffy pouted and hit his grandpa on the arm. "Shut up, don't laugh at my dream!"

Garp laughed even more as he barely felt any of Luffy's attacks. He patted his back extra hard again causing Luffy to properly face plant this time. "Agh! You big meanie! Just you wait, your punches and stupid training wont mean anything once I can become a pirate! Then I can finally stop getting hit all the time." Luffy said before he sat back up pouting again.

Garp's laughter slowly died down at Luffy's words, the Marine calming down and growing a little somber. He looked at Luffy out of the corner of his eye then sighed. He looked to the sky and began speaking. "I guess you must hate a grandpa like me. So intimidating. So demanding."

Luffy looked at Garp curiously, staying quiet since he knew he wasn't done talking yet. "But Luffy, the reason I'm training you so harshly to be a Navy soldier is…" he looked at Luffy making eye contact to show his grandson just what these next words truly meant to him, "…that I don't want you to stray from the right path at any price." Luffy stared at Garp as the old man slowly smiled and put his palm atop Luffy's head. "That is my wish."

"The right…path…?" Luffy asked slowly, trying to mull over exactly what his grandfather was saying.

Garp yawned and leaned back a little on one arm still keeping his hand on Luffy's head. "The right path Luffy. It's why I became a Marine. Because when I was young, I had the same dream that you do."

Luffy started and tried to move Garp's hand. "You did?! Then why did you become a Marine Grandpa? Why join the Navy with all its dumb rules and codes when you could be a free pirate?"

Garp chuckled to himself and let go of Luffy. "It's because it was the right path to follow. To me Luffy freedom needs to be for everyone. Not every pirate out there is like that 'Red Hair'. There are many who go out and hurt people."

He looked at Luffy seriously, his eyes hardening a bit. "Pirates aren't all bad. I hate criminals but even the pirate hated most by the world once told me something that made me see that he had good in his heart. He knew that sometimes even bad people can do better and do the right thing. But he was unique. There are pirates out there Luffy that right now are taking over islands. They're killing people, stealing from them, hurting families and ruining lives. Some are even taking people from their homes and selling them to other people to be used as slaves."

Luffy swallowed getting a little anxious at how serious Garp was being. "S-Selling people?"

Garp sighed and nodded, closing his eyes. "Yes. There are some bad people everywhere, even some in the Navy. I know some fellow Marines that are just as bad as pirates. But for the most part every Marine out there is trying to stop bad pirates from hurting more people. Just like how today I was able to save your sorry butt." Garp chuckled a bit but grew serious again to keep Luffy's attention.

"You see Luffy, I want the most freedom in the world too. But I want it for everyone. Pirates want their freedom too, but most take their freedom by taking it away from others. They use their freedom to hurt people and run. And if your freedom hurts someone Luffy…" Garp opened his eyes again staring right at Luffy. "…If your freedom hurts someone Luffy then that's not a good freedom. That's the kind of thing that needs good people to stop from happening. Those are the pirates I've been fighting."

Luffy looked at his grandpa then looked back down at himself. He had only ever seen pirates as people like Shanks, people that helped their town and had fun and adventures on the sea. He knew other pirates were different, but to hear that his grandpa had met and fought against those kinds of people…

"But Shanks isn't like that…is he grandpa?"

Garp rolled his eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. "No he's not. He stayed on this island for a year Luffy. I knew about him. If he was a really bad one I would've definitely locked him up. I could beat that 'Red Hair' with one arm! Bwahaha!"

Luffy stared at Garp and remembered how he beat up that sea serpent. He looked away and stared out at the ocean like his grandfather had been doing before he felt a hand on his head again making him look up.

"Luffy." Garp said, his voice once more serious. "There's something I want you to promise me." Garp stood up off the ground and looked down at Luffy. "I want you to promise me that no matter what, you'll always do the right thing. No matter what you grow up to be I know that I can be proud of you so long as you do the right thing whenever you can. You can be the freest person in the world, but if you can't do the right thing then that freedom is worthless. Do you understand?"

Luffy stared up at his grandpa with blank eyes as he mulled over the words. He thought about everything he wanted to do and everything Garp had told him about right then. He thought about his future, what he would do, and what this promise might mean. But in the end he was only seven years old and didn't want to think too hard about it.

He moved forward and hugged Garp's leg before pulling away again and giving Garp a determined look. "I don't hate having a grandpa like you. I promise grandpa, that I'll always try to do the right thing and stay on the Right Path."

Garp grinned and leaned down, swooping Luffy up and onto his shoulders before he started walking back into Foosha village. "Good boy Luffy! We'll have a great dinner tonight because I swiped plenty from the Navy! You can eat as much meat as you want! Bwahahahahaha!" Garp laughed even more as Luffy began to whoop with delight, eagerly anticipating the delicious meal ahead.

The Right Path Prologue End

* * *

_Well that's everything! I know I know, it's pretty much just a retelling of the first chapter for now. But things will begin to differ quite a bit soon. Like I said I have a lot planned. This is going to be great! Thank you for reading and I hope you stick around for more to come soon!_

_Suna OUT!_


	2. His Name is Luffy

_Alrighty and welcome to the first official chapter of The Right Path! I hope you're all as excited as I am! WOOOOO~_

_Now just for clarification because I had some people commenting about this. I do not mean The Right Path as in this is the path that Luffy should have always taken, or that the Marines are always the good guys. Far from it we've been shown too many times that they aren't just inherently good. No, when I named this The Right Path I did so because I felt inspired by what Garp said in Luffy's flashback. I literally took that convo word for word to try and make it more apparent. This is the story of a Luffy who wasn't saved by Shanks and was fully awake for Garp's speech. Those two things combined are my justification for this AU._

_With that out of the way, I hope you enjoy this chapter!_

_Chapter added July 9th, 2019_

**Ch.1 His Name is Luffy**

* * *

Somewhere in the East Blue, on a Remote Island, a young man with pink hair and glasses struggled to roll a barrel into a warehouse.

"What? You're saying that barrel of sake got washed up on shore Koby?' A man with a blocky head asked surprised as he blocked the doorway.

"Ye…yes. There seems to be something inside it. What should we do with it…?" Koby asked nervously.

As he asked, two men who had been in the warehouse moved closer to Koby. "Great! Let's all drink together." One of them said with a malicious grin.

"But! If the captain finds out, we'll be…"

"She wont find out." The other said. "We're the only ones cleaning this place so only we'll know. So long as Koby doesn't rat us out. Right?! Koby…?"

Koby backed up, raising his hands to placate the large man. "Of…of course! I…I haven't seen anything! Eh hehehe…s-so please don't beat me…"

Suddenly there was a loud thump from inside the barrel. All four of the people there stared at it strangely before a mighty crack was heard. Then suddenly the barrel burst open as a young man in a red vest erupted from within the barrel.

"Ahhh, what a nice nap that was!" The young man looked around and cocked his head to the side. "Wait, where am I?" He turned and looked at the people staring at him. "Who are you?"

"What the hell? Who are you?!" Three of them yelled. One of them got close to Luffy, gritting his teeth in an attempt to be intimidating. "Why would someone be coming out of a barrel!?"

Before anything else could be said however, a huge iron mace soared forward and completely demolished the warehouse. Luffy was rocketed with the barrel into the forest, the pink haired Koby running after him to get away from the danger.

As the barrel gently rolled to a stop Koby walked up to Luffy who was content to lay down in the barrel for now. "Um…are you alright? You got knocked pretty far."

"Shishishi! I'm fine, just a little surprised that's all. I'm Luffy, what is this place?"

"This is the hiding place of the pirate 'Iron Mace' Alvida. I'm Koby, a caretaker on the ship."

Luffy raised an eyebrow as he got out of the barrel. "I see…actually that's not important. Do you have a small boat?"

Koby looked nervously at Luffy, debating on whether or not to tell him the truth before he lowered his head in defeat. "You want a small boat? Well, I have one but…"

* * *

"What's this? A coffin?"

Luffy stared in clear disbelief at a pile of scrap wood nailed together in the crude shape of a boat. It even had makeshift oars, though the boat looked like even a gentle wave could cause it to capsize.

"That's the boat I've been secretly making for two years." Koby explained, trying to defend his hard work just a little.

Luffy turned to look at Koby curiously. "Two years? You…don't want it anymore?"

Koby shook his head and looked at the ground. "Yeah…I don't want it anymore. I was going to run away in this. But I don't have the courage to go through with it. I'll probably be stuck on that terrible ship as a caretaker for the rest of my life, though there is something I dream about doing…"

"Then you should leave."

"No! No, I can't!" Koby shouted as he shook his head wildly. "It'll never work! Whenever I think about running away and what would happen is Alvida found out, my lugs lose all strength and my stomach turns over. I get so scared I lose my mind! And its all because I didn't pay enough attention and ended up on that ship when all I wanted to do was go fishing. I had to do this to survive! I can't…I don't have the strength to leave."

Luffy walked past Koby. "You're pretty stupid and useless aren't you? And you seem kinda wimpy too." Luffy grinned at Koby. "I don't like you."

Koby trembled from Luffy's bluntness, a small tear coming to his eye. "You're right…if only I was brave enough…hey. You must have come from a ship if you washed up on the island in a barrel. Why are you sailing Luffy?"

Luffy smirked and raised his head towards the sky, his hands resting at his waist. "Because it's my Path. Because it's my Dream."

Koby stared in awe at Luffy, the conviction in his voice amazing Koby. "…Will I…" Koby swallowed nervously as Luffy's attention landed on him again. "Will I also…be able to accomplish my Dream…?" He finished before feeling his will start to falter, sitting down to try and save energy.

Luffy cocked his head. "Hm? What?"

"Will I be able…to become a Marine…?"

Luffy stared at Koby for a long considering moment. "A Marine?"

Koby began to tear up, but surprisingly his eyes became determined as he stood up again with his fists balled up. "Luffy! Joining the Marines and catching evil people…that has always been my dream!" He stepped up to Luffy and stared him down. "Do you think I can do it?"

Luffy chuckled to himself, a small smile coming to his face as Koby began to get more fired up. "I wouldn't know!" He answered bluntly with a teasing smile as if laughing at his own joke.

Koby raised his fists up and stared at them, feeling more alive than he had in a long time. "I have the at least try! I'd rather die trying to get out of here and join the Marines than stay here and be a caretaker for the rest of my life!"

As he heard the words coming out of his mouth Koby realized what he was actually saying. He blinked in shock but then smiled at his newfound courage. "And then…once I'm a brave Marine I'll be able to arrest all the terrible people out there. I'll be able to arrest someone like Alvida!"

"WHO DID YOU SAY YOU'D ARREST KOBY?!" A booming voice cried out before a gargantuan obese woman crashed through the forest swinging a giant iron mace down right where Koby was, destroying his scrap wood boat.

"My boat…" Koby gasped out, every bit of courage he had felt a moment ago dying a swift death as Alvida entered his vision.

"Did you think you could escape from me Koby? Did you really think you could bring someone in to capture me? He doesn't look like Roronoa Zoro though." Alvida said as she considered Luffy. "Now tell me one thing before you die…what's the most beautiful thing in the sea?"

Koby opened his mouth, his brain already trained with a response to that dreaded question. Just then Luffy stood in front of Koby. "Who's the fat lady?"

Koby, Alvida, and the army of men behind the woman all froze. Every man there had their jaw drop before intense fear hit them. "That kid…he dares to…!" The men said.

Koby grabbed Luffy's shoulders shaking him. "No Luffy! Quick! Repeat after me! 'In all the seas, this lady is the most…" Koby quieted as he remembered the conviction in Luffy's voice again. "The…" He remembered his own courage from just a moment ago. He thought of the years of torture and his dream of wanting an honest hard working life as a Marine. He grit his teeth and let go of Luffy before he shouted to the sky. "The fattest, ugliest, most vile and rude damned BITCH!"

Luffy began laughing hysterically as Alvida advanced on Koby with murder in her eyes. "You damned little punk!"

As Koby screamed, telling himself internally that he didn't regret it Luffy grabbed Koby's shoulder and pulled him out of the way. "Well said Koby! Now get behind me!"

Alvida snarled as he reared up her mace. "Both of you just go ahead and die for me!"

With a mighty swing the iron mace came crashing down towards Luffy who only grinned at the challenge. "It's useless against me." Luffy said before he disappeared, suddenly appearing behind Alvida with his arm cocked back as the mace crashed into the dirt. "Because my grandpa hits way harder than you."

Koby, Alvida and all her men were shocked at that speed. Luffy grinned and made his move. "**Pistol Fist**!" He slammed his fist right into Alvida's face, launching her right off of her feet and flying back into a tree that cracked and toppled over.

All of the pirates were stunned speechless, Alvida unconscious on the forest floor. Luffy stepped forward and punched his fist into his palm. "Now, time to go. Prepare your ship! Koby wants to join the Marines! So stay out of his way!"

The pirates all looked on in shock before rushing away to do as they were told. Luffy leaned back and smiled as he saw them running before turning to Koby and giving the boy a peace sign.

* * *

"So we're really going to turn in Alvida Luffy?" Koby asked Luffy, both young men standing on the deck of Alvida's ship. They had left behind Alvida's crew on her island and taken down Alvida's Jolly Roger.

Luffy nodded, staring out at the sea with a smile on his face. "Yup! If you want to be a Marine and arrest people just like her then you should get a head start. I've never heard of her but if she's got a bounty that'll help you a lot too!"

Koby smiled and nodded towards Luffy. "Thank you Luffy. I don't know why but just being around you has helped give me courage." Luffy grinned back at Koby who returned the smile. "I heard recently that there's a Marine base near here at Shells Town that captured the 'Pirate Hunter' Zoro. If a place like that can hold him then it should be no problem for them to hold her too."

Luffy turned back to the sea and pointed forward. "Alright then, lets head out to Shells Town!"

* * *

"We're finally here!" Luffy cried out as he and Koby stepped off the ship. "You're pretty good Koby, you got us here in only a day!"

Koby scratched the back of his head not used to getting any kind of praise. "Of course, it's no big deal. That's just the basics of navigation."

"Alright! Let's go eat!" Luffy shouted as he followed his nose through the streets to a restaurant, Koby chasing behind him.

After eating their meal Luffy sighed in satisfaction patting his stomach. "So tasty~" He groaned a bit as he sat up in his seat and leaned forward on the table. "Alright Koby, once that fat lady is all squared away we'll go our separate ways. You do your best to be a great Marine, okay? I'll even put in a good word for you!"

Koby gave Luffy a bit of a strained smile. "I'm not sure how much good your word can be to Marines Luffy, but thank you." Koby smiled more genuinely before tearing up again. "And I will…thank you so much! Luffy you have to follow your dream too!"

Luffy gave Koby a confident grin. "Of course. I won't stop trying even if I'm killed." He shared another laugh with Koby before he cocked his head to the side in curiosity. "Hey I wonder if they have enough space in their cells to keep all of Alvida's fat in? They might have to move that Zoro guy to make room for her, shishishi!"

A crashing sound erupted all over the restaurant as people sprang up and away at the mere mention of Zoro's name. Koby and Luffy stared at them with strange expressions.

"Looks like we can't say the name 'Zoro' so loudly." Koby whispered to Luffy. Koby stood up in his chair normally again and shrugged at Luffy's earlier question. "I'm not sure. I saw a notice on the streets, there's someone called Captain Morgan at the base, maybe he knows."

A second round of crashing and people scattering occurred at the mention of Morgan, causing both young men to hurry up and pay for their meal just to get out of there.

"Shishishi, what an interesting restaurant. I got to go there again some time."

"But that was strange, I have a bad feeling about this Luffy." Koby looked around at all the townspeople; most of who didn't even try to make eye contact. "I understand being afraid of Zoro, but why would they be afraid of Marines?"

Luffy strode forward with a curious look in his eyes, as he seemed to inspect everything around him. "Well, he could've done something bad, right?"

"What? That's impossible!"

"I'm serious. There are some Marines just as bad as Pirates Koby. Trust me, like my grandpa told me not everything is totally black and white."

Eventually the pair made to the Marine base, Luffy hauling Alvida all tied up like she weighed nothing. For her part Alvida didn't even struggle,, instead she seemed to start saying sweet nothings to the thin air. It was starting to freak the two out.

"This place looks pretty ugly up close." Luffy turned to Koby and motioned him to move forward. "Go ahead Koby, I'll be right behind you."

Koby hesitated, putting his fingers together nervously as he looked everywhere except at the large metal gate. "I-I don't think I'm prepared yet. Besides that incident at the restaurant got me thinking…"

Luffy huffed a bit and dropped Alvida to the floor, the woman letting out a startled cry before the dirt cut her off. Luffy looked at the plaque besides the gate and hummed to himself. "The 153rd…okay. Let's see how they do things ourselves first Koby."

Luffy jumped, climbing to look over the wall at the inside of the base. Something caught his eye however and he immediately hopped back down before jogging down the side.

"W-wait! Luffy! Where are you going?" Koby asked as he started chasing his friend down.

"I saw something over there!" Luffy called out. "I think it's that guy you mentioned, Zoro."

The duo travelled down the length of the wall until Luffy suddenly jumped back up, Koby joining him this time in peering over the wall with a slight struggle. "Look at that person." Luffy said quietly.

As soon as Koby looked ahead he yipped in fear and crashed back down onto the dirt. "That black bandana! T-those eyes! That terrifying aura! It…it's him! It's Roronoa Zoro!"

Luffy stared ahead, taking in the sight and committing it to memory. There was a man tied by his arm to a wooden post that looked like a cross. He had a black bandana around his forehead, a large green striped Haramaki around his stomach and a pair of dark green pants on. He looked up at Luffy with eyes that were more fitting on a demon than a man.

"Those ropes look real easy to break…" Luffy said lowly as he considered what he was seeing in front of him.

"Hey." Zoro called out catching Luffy's attention. "You're an eyesore on that wall. Get lost."

Luffy hummed noncommittally and prepared to jump down when a ladder clacked next to the wall beside him. Turning he saw a little girl climb up with something wrapped in her hands. She looked around carefully and shushed Luffy before climbing over the wall and making her war to Zoro.

Luffy and Koby watched after her, Koby panicking about her safety but not jumping over the wall himself. They watched as she presented a pair of rice balls for Zoro then an encounter with an oddly dressed blonde man who came to taunt Zoro. He swiped a rice ball before spitting it out and stomping on the other one before ordering the girl to be thrown over the wall.

Luffy watched carefully as one of the hesitant Marines picked the girl up, whispering something to her before chucking her over the wall. Instantly Luffy was in the air, jumping backwards off the wall and soaring up to catch the girl before she could hit the ground.

Koby rushed over to the two of them as Luffy landed and gently let the girl down from his arms. As Koby checked the girl over Luffy ran at the wall and jumped over it, landing on the other side. The man in the weird suit was gone so it was just Zoro and himself.

"You're still here?" Zoro asked as Luffy walked closer to him. "Get lost or else he'll come back and tell his damned father."

Luffy didn't respond, instead sizing Zoro up in those ropes. "You're out here for the entire world to see, tied up in easy to break ropes. Are you really all that strong like Koby said?"

Zoro growled at him. "You shut up! Mind your business."

"Hmm…still you look like you've been out here a long time. It looked like that little girl was trying to feed you something nice too. They're starving you huh? Shishi, if it was me I'd probably starve in three days!"

"That just means I have more spirit than you do idiot." Zoro said, his eyes moving down to the remains of the rice ball on the floor. "I'm not dying here. I swear it. I going to do everything I can to stay alive for ten more days, and fulfill my dreams."

"Ohh?" Luffy hummed interested. He looked back at the main gate where the blonde guy had came and left from. "What a strange guy you are." Luffy turned to leave back over the wall before Zoro's shout stopped him.

"Wait! Could you pick that up for me?" Zoro asked deadly serious as he continued to eye the rice ball remains.

"You still want to eat that? It's mostly mud by now."

"Just do it!"

Luffy stared at Zoro strangely and grabbed the white mush on the ground, tossing it into Zoro's open mouth. The half dead man chewed and swallowed hastily, coughing a bit due to the dirt no doubt.

"Tell that little girl…'The rice balls were delicious, thank you very much.' And thank you."

Luffy stared blankly at Zoro for a moment before a smile came on his face. He nodded and jumped back over the wall landing in front of Koby and the girl. "Let's go someplace else for now." He said before he started walking off.

* * *

"He really said that?" The little girl, now introduced as Rika, asked excitedly at what Luffy told her.

"Yup! He ate the whole thing too in one big bite!"

Koby looked down in thought. "I guess that Roronoa guy isn't so bad after all."

Rika stood up and crossed her arms. "No way no way, that big brother is a very nice person! The only reason he's locked up right now is because he protected me from Helmeppo's pet wolf!"

Luffy hummed thoughtfully. "Is that the weird purple guy?"

Rika nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! He's Captain Morgan's son! The Morgan's have an iron grip on this town, using the strength of the Navy to control all of the people here. My family even has to pay tribute to them every month. And that son of his can do anything."

"Zoro cut down his wolf when it was trying to attack me. he got surrounded immediately and Helmeppo was screaming about getting us all back for it. But Big Brother Zoro made a deal with him. He could torture Zoro for a whole month, and if he survived then he could go free and nothing bad would happen to my family." Rika looked down, saddened at what Zoro was being put through.

Luffy shook his head and looked at the Navy Base in the distance. "So the only reason he's locked up is some jerk and his weirdo son."

Koby nodded. "He may have a temper but he does chase down pirates. He's not a bad guy after all."

Rika nodded again and pointed at Koby. "Exactly! The only bad people are the Morgan's!"

At that moment an obnoxious voice called out down the street. Turning they saw dozens of people drop to the floor bowing as Helmeppo flanked by two Marines made their way down the street.

"Don't dare raise your head! I'll tell my daddy on you! Hiehiehie!" Helmeppo laughed obnoxiously and pointed to a man that was cowering at his feet. "Careful, don't raised your head any higher! You don't want to end up like that Roronoa Zoro now do you? I'll have you executed right after him in three days time if you're not careful!"

Luffy stood up in Helmeppo's path, shocking him. "Three days? Didn't you say you'd give him a month?"

"Who are you? How rude!" Helmeppo said taken back a bit by someone standing up to him. He brushed it off and tried to puff his chest out more to be intimidating. "I was lying the entire time. Only and idiot would believe something like that! Hiehiehie!"

Luffy grit his teeth angrily. Before anyone could blink Luffy vanished from sight and crossed the distance to Helmeppo delivering a crushing haymaker to the man's face and flooring him.

Koby shouted in distress, moving to grab Luffy from behind and stop him. "Luffy stop! I know you're angry but you need to calm down. You want to be a fugitive of the Marines?!"

Luffy brushed Koby off of him with ease and took a step forward. "I've seen everything I needed to see Koby. I can't stand this anymore." Luffy balled his fists tight and looked to the giant ugly base. "It's time that things are made right. And I know just where to start."

* * *

Zoro looked up as the young man from earlier hopped over the wall again and strode over to him, a serious look on his face. Zoro grunted at him, and looked back down. "Did you tell the girl?'

"Yes." Luffy said stopping right in front of Zoro's tied up form. "And she told me everything that happened too. What they're doing to you, it's not right. I'm here to put a stop to it."

Zoro looked up, murder in his eyes. "No! If she told you everything then if you do anything to get me out of here you know what will happen to her and her family. I can last the rest of the month, I have the will to make it happen so mind your damn business!"

"They're killing you in three days. That Helmeppo guy said so to the whole town."

At that news, Zoro's eyes widened in shock. His mind whirled as he tried to make sense of it before he stopped and focused. "So. He lied. Okay then." Zoro looked up at Luffy. "You sound like you have an idea of what to do. The bastards locked me up and starved me, and they don't even have the decency to keep their word. Whatever it is you're doing I want to be a part of it."

With a soft laugh Luffy walked around Zoro to the back of the post. As he did he began to hear the sounds and commotion of Navy men running around and trying to get into position so he knew he must have been spotted. Grinning because it didn't really matter Luffy grabbed both sides of the piece of wood that acted as the cross section for Zoro's arms to be bound.

"Hurry up with whatever you're doing. They're almost here." Zoro said staring forward unblinking.

"Right. Watch out for splinters." Luffy said before he flexed his muscles and pushed down with all his might, snapping the wood down and bringing Zoro's arms to rest against his own body. With the wood broken the ropes had enough slack for Zoro to easily slip his arms out of the bindings and stand up properly.

Zoro grunted as he rubbed his arms and stretched his body for the first time in over a fortnight. He turned to look at Luffy the up to where Luffy was looking. Staring down at the both of them were about twenty Marines hanging out of windows or just over a rooftop barricade. Worst of all each one had a gun trained on them.

"By the will of Captain Morgan." One of the braver marines called out albeit reluctantly. "All who help a prisoner are sentenced to their same crime and punishment. Pirate Hunter Zoro has escaped confinement and is to be executed immediately along with the unidentified male."

"I'm a swordsman." Zoro said as he stepped up to beside Luffy. "I use three blades but that crap kid of the crap captain took them away. And I'm nearly dead on my feet, so without those swords I won't be of much help to you."

Luffy snickered next to Zoro, the two of them completely ignoring the shouting Marines. "Don't worry. Rika and Koby had said you were a swordsman. When I came up with the idea to spring you and explained things to Koby he had an idea."

At that moment a ladder clattered against the wall catching everyone's attention. Koby rushed up the ladder and hopped down to the other side of the wall carrying a single saber type sword. "I found one on the ship Luffy!" Koby shouted out with a smile at having been able to accomplish something to help.

"He has a weapon!" One of the twitchy marines shouted before instantly training his gun on the new target.

"No, don't!" A dark skinned Marine shouted, but it was too late. With a bang and a quick shout of pain Koby was on the dirt floor, writhing on the ground in pain as he clutched his bleeding shoulder.

Zoro and Luffy both sprinted at Koby, some of the Marines taking shots at them as well but not being able to get them. Zoro grabbed the saber as he ran and checked it quickly before circling back around. "It's crap but I'll give you time to get him out of the way." He told Luffy as the red vested boy reached Koby.

"Agh…I've…I've been shot L-Luffy…" Koby said shakily between gasps of pain.

Luffy nodded and helped Koby up by his good arms, helping the boy limp to slump against a far wall out of the line of fire. "But you did good Koby. You got us what we needed in time." Luffy looked at Zoro who was systematically tearing through the Marines.

With Koby squared away Luffy rushed back to where the action was, leaping up to where Zoro was now fighting and joining in. "Make sure you don't kill any of them. That's something you can't come back from." Luffy said as he clocked one of the Marines.

Zoro huffed and finished destroying a gun before knocking the wielder out with the back of the blade. "Don't tell me how to fight. Besides this saber is such crap that I wouldn't be able to even if I was trying. I have no issue with these men, only the Morgans."

Luffy nodded and stared up at the sudden dark spot blocking out the sun. He squinted and made out what looked like a rough outline of a man with a Navy coat on and an axe for an arm. Frowning, Luffy looked at Zoro then at the marine's that had started coming as reinforcements.

"Hey, I need to take care of something up there. Do you mind handling these guys while I go up?" Luffy asked Zoro as he started taking a few steps back to get enough space for a running start.

"You want to leave me here while you have all the fun? Hardly seems fair." Zoro called before he stumbled hard and almost fell to one knee.

Three Marines instantly tried to pounce at Zoro with weapons raised but Zoro stood up in a flash and sliced at their arms and making them drop to the ground in pain and trying to stop the bleeding. "Okay, maybe I'm a bit more exhausted than I first thought. I can finish off these riff raff, but then I'm going after my swords and Morgan no matter what."

Luffy grinned and nodded. "No problem. I just need to see him first." Luffy said before he sprinted right at the wall before disappearing in a flash. Zoro stared in amazement along with every Marine before Luffy reappeared a quarter of the way up on the wall.

He kicked off of the wall hard and ended up going flying high but also away from the ceiling. However before Zoro could say anything or even move to try and intercept the guy in the air Luffy grinned, flipped his body around, and jumped off of the air.

Everyone stared at him in absolute shock as they saw Luffy jump again and again in mid air until he made it out of sight and reached the top of the base where the statue was being erected.

'He can fly?!' Zoro thought to himself, not having the energy to shout out at such an outrageous feat. However he was still savvy enough to take advantage of the situation and rushed through the rest of the Marine's who were all still looking up after where Luffy had gone. With the riff raff out of the way Zoro took a shaky step forward before slowing down and taking a deep breath to steady himself. He had some swords to find.

* * *

Luffy continued to travel all the way up until he cleared the roof of the base. As he did so he took in what was going on and where everyone was. With8 a smile he kicked off the air one more time and landed right on the head of the giant statue, shaking the thing in place.

The large Marine with an axe hand and sleeveless officers coat and the…iron jaw, growled as soon as Luffy touched down. He pointed a finger up at Luffy and began shouting like crazy. "Just who the hell do you think you are? Get the hell off my head and come down here so I can kill you!"

"Get off? But the view is so good up here." Luffy called back down with a laugh

"Captain Morgan sir!" A random marine shouted as they burst through the rooftop door. "Roronoa Zoro has been freed and is running amok in our base!"

Morgan backhanded the Marine as he approached, his eyes never leaving Luffy's form. "Shut up! I don't care about some half dead Bounty Hunter! Men fire at that man now!"

With a wave of shock at Morgan's actions towards his men quickly being overtaken by a wave of fear, every Marine present got their weapons and aimed it at Luffy.

As they prepared to fire however Luffy suddenly took in a deep breath and shouted back down to all of them. "Belay that order!"

A second wave of shock and surprise swept through the men. "Belay that?" "Did he say "Belay that'?" "Is he a higher officer? Did one come to save us?" "Is he even a Marine?"

Morgan stared up at the figure on the statue, growling still before stepping forward. "I am CAPTAIN Morgan! What rank of officer in the East Blue DARES to belay my order?!"

Luffy scratched his nose and cracked his neck before shouting back down. "I am Lieutenant Junior Grade Monkey D. Luffy!"

"Fire!" Morgan shouted out as soon as he heard the rank, knowing that he still had full control of the situation. "Make this upstart suffer for showing my greatness such disrespect!"

All of Morgan's men felt the hope that had swelled up in them for a moment die a horrible crushing death at the news that someone hadn't come to help them after all. They began to raise their weapons at Luffy again but before their eyes he disappeared off of the statues head.

"What are you all aiming at?" They heard a voice ask before everyone turned towards the center of the Marines where Luffy was standing picking his nose. "Ah! It must be the falling statue."

Morgan stopped himself from attacking the idiotic boy to look back up at his statue which was rocking back slowly but surely. "The ropes you fools! Get the ropes!"

No one moved however as they were transfixed by the slowly toppling statue. It fell all the way backwards before it hit the edge of the roof, causing the who things to break in half and for everything torso level and above to plummet to the ground below.

Morgan watched on in absolute horror as his efforts over the last few years all went down into nothingness in the span of ten seconds. Slowly his brain started working again and he turned on the smiling dead man before him.

"Shishishi sorry about that, when I used that technique I put so much force into it that I guess it caused the statue to topple back over."

Morgan stepped forward and loomed over Luffy, his axe hand itching to cut the brat open. "Any last words before I send you to hell?"

Luffy looked up at Morgan, his grin never faltering. "Lieutenant Junior Grade Monkey D. Luffy. Special Inspector appointed by Vice-Admiral Monkey D. Garp. Captain Morgan, for various crimes including Abuse of Power, Extortion, Unlawful Arrest, General Corruption, and Failure to uphold the Standard of the Marines and your Station, you are under arrest and stripped of your rank pending a Court Martial."

Morgan's eyes widened, his mind racing with all the new information he had just been given. Luffy on the other hand was celebrating internally at having been able to pull out all those terms and crimes that his grandpa had literally beat into his head when first giving Luffy the option of taking this position.

All of the men around them however threw down their guns and began to weep and cheer. A savior had come after all! Everyone knew that the Inspectors were given special privileges regardless of what their rank was and that this person actually had the capacity to carry out that sentence. They were saved!

Morgan stepped forward again, raising his axe-hand high into the air. "No one will ever know about this! You'll just be some missing nobody Marine who died at sea! No one can stop my greatness!"

With a howl of Fury Morgan swung his arm down right at Luffy with all his strength. Still grinning though Luffy seemed to simply sway out of the way of Morgan's attack as if it never had a chance of connecting.

Roaring in frustration, Morgan attacked again, slashing towards Luffy's center to cut him in half, however again to all the men around him it seemed as if the young mans body defied physics and bent at an unreasonable angle to avoid getting cut in two.

Morgan's sight began to go red in anger and frustration, his axe hand swinging wildly but never managing to hit the annoying pest before him. He tried to shoulder tackle the punk after he dodged yet another swing but the brat just moved around him again with the same ease as before. It was infuriating!

"I don't care who you are, I WILL kill you!" Morgan shouted at the top of his lungs as he swung down again right at Luffy. He knew that if he didn't land his attack this time though that he would just commit and break the ground underneath the boy to send him plummeting to his doom.

Luffy took on a serious expression for a moment before smirking. "Sorry I can't understand you when your mouth is so full of feet!"

"Wha?" Morgan said before midway through his swing a sandaled foot suddenly came crashing into his face sending him flying through the roof top door and back into the base.

"**Kami-e Stomp**." Luffy said to himself before he righted himself back to a standing position, shaking his foot a little. "Yikes, that guys face really hurt. I guess having metal for a mouth wasn't just a weird look for him. Huh?" Luffy suddenly noticed the amount of Marines that were crying as they looked at him.

"Thank you so much sir for coming. We haven't been able to contact anyone at headquarters for months since Morgan got rid of the Den Den Mushi, and he's been controlling every messenger bird coming in and out of this place. Thank you so much for coming to free us!"

Luffy cocked his head to the side and stared at them blankly. "Huh? Free you? I didn't even know you all weren't happy working for him. I was going to beat you all up; I didn't know anything about what was going on when I got here. I just wanted to help my friend Koby sign up for the Marines and you guys were closest."

The Marines looked at Luffy shocked as he dusted his hands and started walking forward to enter the base. "Besides, I think that ex-captain of yours isn't out of this fight yet. Go get the next highest officer and tell him to give out the orders for no one to get in Zoro's way. He's helping me in my inspection right now." Luffy smiled at them before heading into the base.

* * *

Zoro breathed a sigh of relief as he strapped the last of his swords back onto his waist. "Ah, that feels much better. And I can finally get rid of this piece of junk." He said, tossing the saber behind him, the pommel hitting the head of an already pummeled Helmeppo that led Zoro to his swords.

Turning to the blond guy Zoro contemplated cutting him down but decided not to soil his swords with the blood of someone that wasn't worth it. He wasn't some pirate that went around killing whoever they pleased. He was a Bounty Hunter and before that a Swordsman. Not some bloodthirsty killer.

Zoro heard a commotion down the hall and left the room. He saw the soldiers of the Navy running around like they were chickens with their heads cut off. Something must have been happening but he didn't have the time to mess around anymore. His body was barely holding on as it was with all the action he'd had to put it through while being so weak.

"We're under attack!" One of the random Marines shouted. Zoro blinked in surprise at the obvious statement since he and that flying boy had been attacking the base for some while now. He'd have thought the news of that would've gotten around faster.

Just then one of the walls were broken through and the fattest, ugliest woman that Zoro had ever seen came crashing through with what appeared to be the wooden post he had been tied to in her hands.

"Where is that Luffy? I need to find that man!" She shouted at the top of her lungs as she battered the Marines with the giant piece of wood.

'Gah, I really don't have time for this nonsense' Zoro thought before getting into his Santoryu stance. 'She's blocking the only way out though and she's destroying all of those men. I told that kid I wouldn't let any of these guys die no matter what they did to me.'

And Zoro took pride in keeping his word if nothing else. However as he got prepared to dash forward he felt a sudden pang in his side along with losing strength in his legs. 'Shit! I've been fighting too long without rest!'

The fat woman turned and noticed Zoro, her eyes showing that she recognized him. "Roronoa Zoro. How serendipitous to find you here. I believed that you were coming for my head before, and here you are half dead yourself."

Taking a step forward the whale of a woman grinned nastily as Zoro tried his best to stand back up from his knees. "Killing you will make my reputation in the East Blue soar! Prepare to die at the hands of the most beautiful woman in all the seas, the great Alvida!"

Zoro barely got his legs underneath him enough to make a rolling dodge to the side away from Alvida's swing. The wooden post slammed into the floor and bounced back up with relative speed. Laughing maniacally Alvida swung to the side and caught Zoro along his ribs, sending the swordsman sprawling from the attack.

Gritting his teeth Zoro used his swords to help lift him up and onto his feet so that he could stare Alvida down properly.

'C'mon you stupid body. I just need one attack. Keep working just until I can land that one attack then you can crap out on me!'

Alvida laughed as she lumbered over to Zoro, spinning the wooden post. "This isn't nearly as pretty or useful as my beloved Iron Mace, but it should be more than enough to finish off your sorry excuse for a walking corpse!"

Zoro glared at Alvida and lifted up his swords to stop supporting him. Almost immediately Zoro fell to one knee on the floor, his arms crossing over his chest as he seemed to make a grunt of pain.

Alvida howled in laughter as she surged forward, swinging with all her might to crush Zoro. "Die Pirate Hunter!"

Just before the wooden post hit though, Zoro himself moved in a burst of speed right at Alvida. All three of his swords crashed forward with a flash and sound of steel striking true.

"**Oni Giri**!"

Alvida stood still for a moment before she made a quick shout of pain, blood spewing from her slash wounds before she fell face first into the floor. Zoro panted hard, his vision beginning to get blurry.

Sheathing his swords, Zoro began to move to start trying to find Captain Morgan when he collapsed on his side against the floor. "Crap. My body's been so poorly taken care of that I can't even stand after only a bit of fighting. There's no way these Marines won't be able to kill me now."

From the corner of his eyes Zoro saw a few marines approaching, scared looks on their faces. Zoro grit his teeth and tried to stand. 'No. I can't die here. I still have a promise I need to fulfill!'

Before he could get anywhere off the ground a hand clasped his shoulder and helped him sit up. "Quickly! We need to get him to the medical wing! Mr. Pirate Hunter sir, are you okay? You really saved us here." The grateful Marine said as he tried to help Zoro stand, supporting him on his own shoulder.

"What going on?" Zoro eventually asked. "Why aren't you trying to kill me?"

The solider, who was really a boy that couldn't have been any older than Zoro himself, simply smiled and looked up. "A brave and powerful Marine came to the base. He's come to free us from Morgan's reign of terror and abuse. And he said you were helping him so we need to help you too."

Zoro stared at the soldier in confusion before the truth dawned on him. That guy that freed him must have been this person they were talking about. Well, at this point Zoro would rather have medical treatment and something in his stomach than having to fight his way out of the base so he decided to go with it. Then he thought of something.

"Wait. Outside. There should be a pink haired boy with a gunshot wound. He needs help too."

"Don't worry, we've already got him being looked at. He came in earlier and gave us a warning that _she_ had escaped from her ropes. It took a lot of guts for him to run in and warn the people that shot him, saved us from being blindsided for all that actually mattered."

Zoro sighed in a mix of relief and exhaustion. He still heard some kind of battle going but decided that whatever was going on he would trust that weird kid to handle it.

* * *

Luffy bounced around the training hall, avoiding every swing from Morgan and knocking him away whenever the Marine over extended with a swing. For his part Morgan was livid. He couldn't hit Luffy at all and he was beginning to tire himself out, heavy panting breaths already come out of his mouth.

"D-Damn you!" Morgan huffed out as he held his axe hand with his other arm to help carry the weight. It was starting to get too heavy with how much he was swinging it around. "Why couldn't you just leave this island well enough alone?! I am the ultimate power here! I am the strongest Marine here! I am the law and Justice! And you can't stop me from fulfilling my promise to eliminate you!"

Luffy frowned and flashed right in front of Morgan who took a swing out of pure reaction. However unlike the other times Luffy reached out with his hand and grabbed Morgan's axe hand.

"Justice? You call what you're doing, Justice?" Luffy asked, his hair covering his eyes in shadow. "You hurt people. You make them fear you, you who are supposed to be their protector. Supposed to make them feel safe. You hurt your own men on a whim, execute anyone who disagrees with you, and still you call yourself Justice?"

Morgan tried with all his might to move his axe-hand but it wouldn't budge no matter how hard he tried to push or pull it. Luffy looked up and for the first time Morgan saw genuine anger on Luffy's face.

"You don't know what justice means!" Luffy shouted, his hands squeezing tight and causing Morgan's axe to begin to crack. "You're supposed to do the right thing as a Marine, always! And you've failed to live up to that! Justice? I'll show you Justice!"

With a single movement Luffy shattered Morgan's axe-hand in his grip, metal pieces falling to the floor. Morgan stared in abject shock and horror before his attention was stolen by Luffy rearing his arm back.

"Take this! **Pistol Fist**!" Luffy roared before he delivered a shattering blow against Morgan's head, dropping him to the floor unconscious. Luffy tossed aside the piece of metal axe still in his hand and stared down at Morgan.

"Marines are always supposed to do the right things. And you've failed. There are many, _many_ pirates that are more on The Right Path than you are Morgan. You stopped walking that path a long time ago."

* * *

Two days after Morgan and Alvida were jailed and Zoro and Koby were treated Luffy stood in front of the man known as Commander Ripper who was the next highest authority at the 153rd branch.

Luffy was also out of his off duty clothes and in more Marine worthy attire of a white Marine vest, standard issue blue pants rolled up to knee height, and his typical sandals on. He had forgone an officer jacket seeing as the only ones at the base were far too large for him and he didn't feel like it in the first place.

"Thank you for everything sir." Commander Ripper said, addressing Luffy with a sir despite being a higher rank than him. "If it weren't for you who knows how much longer it would've taken for someone to come along and stop Morgan. We're forever in your debt here in Shells town."

Luffy stifled a yawn and returned Ripper's words with a nod. "It's nothing. I was just around."

"Well be that as it may," Ripper said bringing forward some paperwork "I still want to personally thank you. And I believe I've done my best to show that with this."

Luffy grabbed the sheets of paper disinterestedly before smiling slowly. "That's great. So He's officially a Marine now?"

Ripper nodded and laughed. "Yes he is. That boy was far braver than he looked, and he speaks with some conviction. He says that he has you to thank for that."

Luffy shook his head and placed Koby's admittance papers back on Rippers desk. "No, it was all him. Well…maybe I helped that scaredy cat a little. Shishishi!"

Ripper chuckled to himself and put the papers away. "We should be alright now here at Shells Town. The next messenger bird is due here in a week and with that we can finally send word to Marine HQ about all this. And I'll make sure to request Vice-Admiral Garp for the prisoner transport just like you suggested."

Luffy laughed to himself knowing that heading from the Grand Line to the East Blue for something so mundane would annoy him. Serves him right for making Luffy start nearly all the way from the bottom at the East Blue instead of heading out on the Grand Line. 'Dumb grandpa hogging all of the adventures for himself.'

"With that out of the way I think I can accommodate your other request. We do have a small ship that you can take out to sea with you along with two or three men to help you."

Luffy nodded and smiled gratefully. "Thanks. I need to get to a Marine base with a working Den Den Mushi as fast as possible. For all the ship I was on knows I went AWOL! I can't let that kind of thing stick."

Ripper strained his smile thinking of how irresponsible that kind of behavior was from an officer ranked Marine, but ultimately he thought better of scolding the boy if only because he still was feeling overwhelming gratitude for him and his help.

* * *

Luffy stared at the small ship, barely any bigger than a large boat really, rock back and forth in the water. He heard footsteps approaching so he turned and saw Zoro walking right towards him with something of a smile on his face.

"You know you're the only person I've ever heard of that's been able to out eat a starving man. You must have some weird stomach to be able to fit that much food in you." Zoro laughed as Luffy grinned.

"What can I say, I love food."

Zoro nodded and looked at the ship. "So you're leaving are you? Where are you headed from here?"

Luffy looked at Zoro curiously. "Why do you wanna know?" Luffy then grinned. "You want to come with?"

"Maybe." Zoro admitted. "I'm a Bounty Hunter, and I've been out of the picture for nearly a month. I need to find my next job and make sure my skills haven't gotten too rusty being tied up for all that time. I'm sure I'd run into something sailing with a weirdo like you."

Luffy laughed then shrugged. "Why not, an adventure is always better when there's more than one person. Even if its not one yet."

Zoro tried to figure that one out but rolled his eyes and gave up. "Whatever weirdo."

Luffy took in a deep breath of the ocean and smiled to himself before climbing on the boat. "Well, all aboard then."

Zoro followed Luffy onto the ship, nodding to the two Marine Grunts working the ship over. He found a seat and put his swords down, settling in for a nap.

"Set sail!" Luffy cried out, the grunts replying with an "Aye Aye!"

However before the ship even truly left the port Luffy heard a shout. "WAIT!"

Turning, both Luffy and Zoro watched as Koby ran for all that he was worth, following them on the port. "Luffy!" Koby shouted, panting away. "Luffy! I don't want to go yet! I don't want to get left behind here! You're the first friend I've ever made!"

Luffy moved to the side of the boat, smiling as Koby began to lose steam. "You're a good friend Koby! And you're going to make a great Marine!"

Koby shook his head and put on a little more speed. "Luffy! I don't want to say goodbye! So please! Luffy! Permission to come aboard?!" Koby shouted, practically pleading.

Luffy's eyes widened in genuine shock before he burst out laughing. "You're damn right!" Luffy hopped off of the ship and kicked the air to make it to Koby. "Permission granted!" Luffy grabbed Koby and with another kick launched himself all the way back onto the ship.

Koby and Luffy landed safely on the deck, laughing and giddy. "Alright now!" Luffy shouted pointing forward. "Koby! Zoro! Forward! Lets set sail to the next adventure!"

* * *

_And that's everything! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! And yes, there were one or two of you that guessed correctly that this was a Marine!Luffy story, but even so things are going to be pretty different from how this is usually played up. And don't worry, while I'm sure some of you may have noticed how Luffy fought here I hope you all also noticed how her **DIDN'T** fight. _

_I hope you all have had a wonderful time and that you all stick around for more to come! Thank you for reading and have a wonderful time! Suna OUT!_


	3. Carnival Cruise

_Hello! It is I Suna No ken here once again with a new chapter! _

_It's a few months after the last chapter yeah, but I have good reason for it! And it all boils down to writers block. (And a little bit of not wanting to get flamed reviews and PM's again but mostly the writers block thing) I was stuck in the four thousand word slot not liking the chapter for a long time. Then today I just sat down and forced myself to keep writing and viola! New chapter because I got on a roll after pushing through that one part. So there might be some extra grammatical errors on this, but please bear with me. I really want to just get this out asap after writing for about ten hours straight. But I suffer to deliver to you my beloved AU, so thank you all who take the time to read my dumb ramblings and my story. Without you I wouldn't be able to do anything. Thank you again!_

_Now with that out of the way lets get right into it! I hope you enjoy!_

_Chapter added October 16th, 2019_

**Ch.2 Carnival Cruise**

* * *

"You know, it's funny that you have absolutely no Navigation skills."

"Guys…?"

Luffy shrugged at Zoro as the two of them lounged against the deck walls of the ship. "Well I can just wander around and let the bad guys find me." Luffy yawned and began digging into his ear. "You're like me too. Wandering around and capturing any Pirates you see. For the bounties."

"Hey, um, guys?"

Zoro scoffed "I don't remember me saying that I live completely off of rewards." Zoro sighed and looked out over the ocean. "I was searching for a man, that's why I left to the sea. But now I can't find my way home…I had no choice but to start hunting Pirates for a living. Just to get a enough to afford to live."

"You guys seriously…Luffy…"

"So you're lost?"

"Shut up! You're the one who's lost!" Zoro snarled back at Luffy glaring at him in anger.

"There's a time and a place for this but seriously you two we need your help!" Koby shouted in fear as he held up a barrel lid in front of him like a shield for dear life as a dripping wet Pirate with a weirdly flat top hair style and striped shirt tried to stab at him laughing maniacally.

Nearby two more dripping wet pirates were fighting the two Marines that were sent to man the ship and accompany Luffy towards the next nearest base. Both sets of fighters seemed to be struggling against each other with neither of the pirates able to out maneuver the Marines with swords in everyone's hands.

Luffy stared back at the conflict rather disinterestedly. "But it's three on three. If we stepped in it would just be unfair."

"And besides." Zoro added in with an odd side look at Luffy for the boys answer. "These three seem to be around all of your levels. If you're going to be Marines dedicated to fighting pirates then you need to get stronger by fighting those pirates. Improve in battle now to survive harsher battles later."

Koby cried out even more as his opponent took advantage of the momentary lapse of attention and grabbed the barrel lid, yanking it to try and get it out of the way for him to stab. However once the lid was pulled Koby was nowhere to be seen, the pirate having flung him with the makeshift shield and allowing the pink haired boy his opportunity.

Instead of capitalizing on it though Koby just raised the lid in front of him again scared to death by the pirate. Chuckling the pirate advanced on Koby again set to end the boy's life. "Koby! Lower the shield so it doesn't cover your eyes! Move it forward a bit more to give you some space and make him do the work of getting around it!" Moving to follow the instructions without question Koby did just that and actually had an easier time blocking the pirates attacks much to the mans frustration.

"Stance is everything! Leading legs are for balanced thrusting but they're also targets! And an unbalanced stance means an easily knocked down fighter!" Koby looked over his makeshift shield for a quick glance down and noticed that the pirate was standing with both legs next to each other as he attacked.

The pirate heard all of these instructions and laughed them off. "Who needs to work for it to kill a crying pathetic wimp like this boy?" He shouted in laughter raising his knife high to try and throw it over Koby's makeshift shield.

At that moment Koby took a gulp to steady himself and charged with a shout, startling his opponent and catching him right in the stomach with the lid, putting all his weight behind the charge.

The pirate grunted in pain as he was knocked down onto his back, his weapon dropping to the deck of the small ship. Koby kicked the knife away and shouted in fear as the pirate made to stand up again. Not even thinking Koby charged, aiming at the same height as his last attack which ended up with the wooden lid slamming into the pirates head with all of Koby's weight, knocking him clean out.

Koby gasped and heaved in exertion, tired from his short fight. He looked at Luffy who was grinning from ear to ear, then to Zoro who gave Koby a satisfied nod and smile.

"Thank you for the instruction Zoro. I don't think I ever could've done that on my own." Koby said, turning to see that the other Marines had also finished their fights around the same time. With all the pirates defeated Koby let out a huff of air and sat back down on the deck.

Zoro stepped forward towards Koby. "You did do that on your own Koby. Luffy and I have been helping you for the past three days now. You knew what to do, you were just panicking a bit and needed a reminder."

Luffy got up and stretched with a yawn. "Yeah, but that was still pretty good Zoro. I didn't know you knew how to use a shield."

"I don't, not really." Zoro said with a shrug. "Still when you get to be famous as a pirate hunter some people start to plan around you. I won't lie and say my first time facing someone using a shield was easy, but once you face enough you start to get used to how they're used." Zoro then pointed at Koby seriously. "And nothing teaches you like experience. Every battle should make you stronger. Remember that Koby."

Koby nodded at Zoro with a determined look, which the swordsman grinned back at. Luffy walked past the two and started dragging all of the downed pirates towards the center of the small ship. One of the other Marines came over with rope they'd retrieved below deck and the two started tying up the pirates.

Once done, Luffy dusted his hands and stared at the pirate in the center. "I know you're playing possum. I saw you peek open your eyes when we finished tying you up." Luffy said with a bit of a chuckle in his voice as the pirate groaned and opened his eyes. "Now, what were you all doing out here in the ocean. You have a shipwreck? Abandoned by your crew?"

"Captain Buggy would never abandon us!" The pirate shouted back at Luffy.

"Captain Buggy? Huh." Luffy looked down, his fist under his chin in thought. He looked back at everyone else with a smile. "You guy's know about this Bug guy?"

"Idiot." Zoro said under his breath as he had thought Luffy was thinking of something else.

Koby raised his hand and nodded. "Yeah, I do Luffy. And his name is Buggy. Buggy the Clown." Koby noticed that all eyes were on him and he gulped in nervousness. "I know about him because some lady didn't like him." Koby said, eyeing the other Marines and trying to be careful about revealing his past as a pirate's helper.

Luffy nodded for a moment then cocked his head. "Right, so he's a weird clown made of bugs. Creepy."

The pirate bound up growled and snapped at Luffy. "Don't talk about my captain like that you dirty Marine! He's a clown! A great clown pirate who owns all the seas around these parts of the East Blue! And he's got the Devil's own power!"

Hearing that piqued Luffy's interest and shocked everyone else. As they looked at each other with apprehension save for Zoro, Luffy hummed in thought. "So he has a mystery power. A Devil Fruit user out here is strange but I'm sure I can still beat him. Where is he?"

The pirate laughed in Luffy's face and reared up to spit in it only for Luffy to bonk him on the head and stop him. "That hurt!"

"Well yeah, I don't want your gross spit on me. Now where's your captain?"

The pirate struggled for a few more minutes, being stubborn and trying to both hide his crew's whereabouts and insult Luffy. Eventually Zoro joined in the questioning and after a while the pirate finally relented and told them where the Buggy Pirates were.

Luffy dusted his hands as he nodded to Koby and the two Marines accompanying him. "They're based up in Orange Town for now. They want one last territory before they head off to the Grand Line."

The Marines nodded and started ruffling through sea charts trying to find where Orange Town would be in relation to them. As they shuffled through the maps Luffy looked back at the pirates, all of who were now awake.

"Hey. Which way is Orange Town?" Luffy asked, punching his palm with a blank face to show what would happen if they didn't answer.

In a panic the lead pirate shrieked. "That way that way that way!" He shouted motioning with his head and feet.

Luffy nodded and looked back at everyone. "Alright guys, start heading in that direction. I'm going ahead. Zoro, you're in charge."

"Wait what? Don't think you can just tell me what to do. I'm not a Marine you idiot!" Zoro shouted as he saw Luffy back up and get ready to jump.

"Do you want to be? I can make that happen." Luffy asked with a grin. "Think about it. Just make sure no one dies. See you soon!" Luffy took off and leaped off the ship before he started kicking off the air in the direction the pirates said.

Zoro shook his head and rubbed his temple. "Impatient moron. Maybe I should join just to make sure he doesn't kill himself listening to every pirate he comes across." Zoro turned to the bound pirates. "You didn't lie about the direction did you?"

All the pirates shook their heads, Zoro being terrifying to them. "N-no! We didn't lie. But that boy doesn't know what he's getting into."

"Yeah." Another of the pirates said, his black cap falling a bit over his eyes and showing the emblem of his crews Jolly Roger. "Captain Buggy is a monster. That Marine is rushing to his death, even if he has that weird jumping power he's no match for the captain."

Zoro hummed and looked at the Marines including Koby. "Well what are you standing around for? Lets follow him."

* * *

Luffy was getting tired. Maybe he should've thought this more through, but he didn't want to wait. There was a pirate with a mystery power that had taken over a town. That wasn't something a good pirate like Shanks would do. It was up to him to stop this guy since no one else had heard anything.

But he was getting really tired! Using Geppo to travel all the way to the island was dumb even for him. His grandpa could never find out or else he'd be done for. At least he was at the coast of the island now. He could see a big ship with some kind of circus tent on top, and…a ruined part of town further down.

Luffy frowned and began to jump towards the ship. If these pirates could do something like that then he needed to stop them right away. At that moment though Luffy heard a low "Thoom" sound like something had just been launched followed by a wooshing sound that was getting louder.

"Cannons." Luffy said with little more than an eye roll. "Grandpa can out throw any cannon." Luffy jumped out of the way of the canon letting it sail past him as he maneuvered in the air. Moving back to the ship Luffy heard multiple detonations as more cannons began firing on him. Laughing, Luffy maneuvered around them all, even sticking out his tongue at the ship knowing that by now they must have someone with a spyglass trained on him to aim.

Luffy laughed to himself as he got closer, more than halfway to the ship. That's when he heard a loud shout to load in some special kind of cannonball. Luffy kept jumping confidently thinking there was nothing he couldn't dodge from that ship as a large cannon was fired.

What started as a small black speck suddenly became a speeding cannonball that was already about to hit Luffy dead on. Having almost no time to react Luffy acted on instinct and put all his strength into a punch that he launched right at it hoping he could knock it away. As soon as he touched it though the cannonball exploded right in Luffy's face.

Shouting in pain Luffy was launched up in the air again and sent over the town. He had burns on his body and his right fist was bleeding badly as he began to flip around in the sky and plummet to the ground. Halfway down to the ground Luffy grit his teeth and got enough sense back to him to right himself in the air and prepare for a rough impact.

As he got closer to the ground Luffy tried his best to focus so he could perform a Kami-e floating fall and lighten his impact. The pain he was feeling distracted him but just as he was about to hit the ground Luffy made the technique work for a split second to barely break his fall and disperse most of the energy just as he landed.

A large plume of dust exploded out from where he hit the ground and Luffy groaned as he started rising back up to his feet. "What was with that cannon? That was no ordinary thing. Dammit." Luffy tried to unball his right fist but the shock he felt kept it tight as he grit his teeth.

"What the?! He's still alive?!" Luffy heard a gruff voice say as the dust cleared.

Looking around Luffy saw a girl with orange hair around his age on the floor staring at him in shock. On the other side of him Luffy saw three pirates all armed though they too were looking at him in shock.

"At least I'm standing after that landing." Luffy said to himself as he used his left hand to dust off his Marine vest, keeping his eyes on the pirates. They must have been chasing this village girl, trying to get whatever was in her hands.

"Oh 'Boss' you're finally here!" Luffy heard from behind him. Turning he saw the orange haired girl clasp her hands and bow her head. "I knew you would save me! And so daring to come from the sky! You're the greatest Marine ever boss! I'll leave these guys to you!"

Luffy stared at the fleeing girl in confusion wondering just what she was talking about. At that moment the three pirates all stood up and surrounded Luffy drawing their weapons.

"Looks like we don't need to chase her anymore. We've got her boss now, and he looks half dead already."

"Right boss?! That map was captain Buggy's treasure!" One of them shouted before swinging his blade right at Luffy's head.

Gritting his teeth in annoyance Luffy dodged the sword swing and punched the pirate with his bloody fist knocking him to the ground. Luffy yelped in pain before he felt his hand go slack and unfurl itself.

"Get that Marine!" One of the other two said as they tried to attack Luffy while he was distracted.

Turning quickly, Luffy realized that it wasn't just his hand. His whole body felt heavy and slow from the after effects of whatever that cannon ball was. Unable to vanish like he normally could Luffy moved out of the way of the attacks with as little motion as possible. As the two tried to dive together to attack Luffy he sprang backwards and kicked at their heads, knocking them out with one foot to the face each.

Breathing a little more heavily than before as the fatigue and damage started to catch up to Luffy he almost didn't hear the clapping coming from above him.

"Wow. You're pretty strong aren't you Marine Boy? You beat those guys with swords barehanded and dangerously hurt." The Orange Haired Girl from before called from a nearby balcony. She was sat on the edge of it watching Luffy with a large smile on her face. With a small sound of exertion she hopped off the balcony, grabbed the edge of it on her way down and swung herself towards the street where she easily maneuvered to land safely.

"I'm someone who likes to make sure Pirates don't get to keep the treasure they stole. My name is Nami. Would you like to be partners with me?" Nami asked, one hand on her hips with a smirk on her face.

"No thanks." Luffy said, turning away from the girl. "Where did I get blown to? I can't see that pirate ship from here." As Luffy walked away from Nami he stumbled for a moment before righting himself.

Nami moved forward and grabbed Luffy's shoulder. "Wait. You may not want to be partners but you still saved me, and you're badly hurt. Come on, this way." Before Luffy could protest Nami dragged the injured Marine off the streets and into a house to get some treatment.

* * *

Zoro tugged angrily at the sleeve of the white jacket he was wearing, trying his best to get the damn thing to fit right. It was his size but the way it rode up when he unsheathed his swords was annoying. "I don't see why I have to wear one of these things." He muttered in an annoyed tone. "I'm not even a Marine."

Koby scratched the back of his head and gave Zoro an apologetic look. "Well maybe not, but if we're surrounded in a crowd it will help us locate one another so we can move to support you properly. Being able to differentiate between friend and foe is the whole purpose of uniforms after all."

Zoro rolled his eyes and growled as he gave up and began fiddling with the zipper of the jacket. "You'll be able to differentiate me from the pirates because I'll be the one standing among a pile of downed bodies. Aha!" Zoro cried in victory as he finally managed to tug the stuck zipper down, letting his jacket hang open.

He moved his arms and swung them as if he were swinging one of his swords before nodding in satisfaction. "I suppose that'll do. If I really have to wear one of these then it being open is best."

"Land Ho! Off the starboard side!" The two heard one of the other crewmen shout causing both to turn and see an island decently close by to them. Zoro grunted and Koby looked on nervously.

"We still haven't seen Luffy yet." Koby said as the ship started moving with more haste towards the island. "I hope he made it to that island okay. He had to travel far to make it there from where we started."

Zoro grunted and began checking over his swords, paying special attention to the completely white one. "I'm sure he's fine. He seems like too much of an idiot to drown. Remember Koby, all idiots float in the ocean."

Koby nodded though said nothing as his nervousness kept growing. Zoro was strong, but this was still his first time going into a dangerous situation without Luffy since they met. While he had confidence in Luffy and had even recently proved himself by winning against that pirate despite his fear Koby still didn't have the confidence that he could handle things without Luffy there to back him up.

"I hope that grinning fool hasn't finished everything up already. I want some action too. There might be some decent swordsmen on that pirate crew for me to fight." Zoro remarked gruffly, seeing Koby getting lost in thought and trying to calm the pink haired boy in his own way.

"Luffy is strong, but do you think that he could take on a whole pirate crew by himself? Even Alvida was wary of Buggy the Clown. And if they're getting ready to go to the grand line then they have to be pretty strong."

Zoro stretched and cracked his neck with a yawn. "He'll be fine Koby. Luffy is very strong. I almost want to challenge him to a fight just to see how strong he is." Zoro grinned as he imagined the challenge.

Koby freaked out immediately and tried to dissuade Zoro from going through with something like that. Still, with him fretting over that at least he wasn't worrying about whatever trouble Luffy could've gotten into.

* * *

"So you abandoned your unit to hunt these pirates down?" Nami asked as she finished up with giving Luffy some bandages for his burns. "Isn't that irresponsible? Typical Marine shirking your duties for the chance of glory." Nami finished with a shake of her head.

Luffy raised an eyebrow at that but shrugged. "I might be labeled AWOL right now anyway so it doesn't matter. And they're not really my Unit, just three other Marines and a Bounty Hunter that I'm travelling with."

"AWOL?! Good grief it sounds more like that bounty hunter brought you in and you were able to escape in transit." Nami shook her head even more and sat down on the table as she put the medical supplies she found away in their container.

Luffy shook his head and laughed, not even wincing at the pain he felt as he laughed. "No it was nothing like that. I was assigned to a patrol ship here in the East Blue right after I left headquarters with my current rank. My grandpa didn't want me to start in the Grand Line, said I needed to work my way up. Dumb Grandpa." Luffy stuck out his tongue to show what he thought of that.

"Anyway, even on a Navy ship we have down time and off hours. So when my shift was over I changed into my off duty clothes to not confuse anyone on duty. I wanted to nap but I never got any rest in my room with all the Recruits always knocking on my door with lame questions. So I hid out in a barrel to nap like I used to as a kid. Next thing I knew I was on an island surrounded by Pirates and met my friend Koby."

Luffy scratched his head as he took a moment to think about how he actually got on the island in the first place. "Something must have happened to the ship that caused the barrel I was in to fall into the sea. I hope everyone is all right. Hmmm…would that mean I'm technically MIA?"

"I think it means that you have a lot of free time on your hands. You can help me." Nami said with a smile as she leaned closer to Luffy. "I want to make sure that pirates don't keep the treasure they steal and you want to beat up pirates that have taken over this town. Let's be partners."

Luffy looked around suddenly. "Wait, why isn't there anyone in this village?"

Nami looked at Luffy strangely for the sudden change of topic. "Everyone in this village is hiding in a shelter outside of town. They're trying to avoid the Buggy pirates at all cost. I don't even know whose house this is."

"Oh, so you're stealing from these empty houses?"

"That's despicable!" Nami shouted as she pounded her fist on the table right in front of Luffy. "Don't even compare me to those common house robbers! I'm an upstanding thief who only steals from Pirates! It's so tiring talking…to…you…" Nami's eyes slowly widened as she realized she had just revealed to the Marine that she was in fact a criminal thief.

Luffy smiled at Nami. "Okay. But this Buggy guy is he really that strong? If you were planning to steal from him does that mean you can take him in a fight?"

Nami furrowed her brow and considered Luffy. 'He obviously heard what I said…and he's okay with it? Just another crooked Marine I guess.' Nami shook her head and raised a finger. "I wasn't planning on fighting him. He's a pirate who's super fond of cannons and blew up a whole town just because some kids called his nose weird. Plus he's got a weird power. I don't want to fight anyone like that."

Nami puffed out her chest and smirked as she rubbed her fingers together. "I prefer to liberate their treasure through trickery and stealth. You can't fight a thief that you've never seen or can't catch."

Luffy nodded, not quite understanding everything but knowing what Nami was saying was that she was really good at what she did. "You must really like money."

Nami blinked and looked away, a somewhat wistful look in her eyes that made Luffy curious. With a sigh and a shake of her head Nami turned back to Luffy and smiled, crossing her arms. "My goal is to steal one hundred million Belli. Then I'm going to buy a certain village!" Nami said, pure conviction in her voice.

Luffy looked at Nami in awe for a moment. "You can buy a village?! That's possible?!" He looked down then around the house once again. "That's a lot of money though. If you need that much why not just steal from these houses too?"

Nami growled at Luffy and moved to chop him on the head before thinking better of it considering his injured state. "You moron! I told you already that's despicable! I don't want to steal from innocent people, only pirates!"

Luffy blinked at her then cocked his head to the side in confusion. "But Pirates all get their treasure from someone else already. Usually innocent people like this. So isn't it the same if you steal from pirates but don't give the money back as stealing those peoples treasure from them outright?"

Nami paused for a moment, speechless to Luffy's words. She licked her lips and opened her mouth to try and refute Luffy but couldn't find the words as she started to consider that possible truth. She felt an itch on her left shoulder and absently rubbed it over the fabric of her shirt, closing her eyes.

Finally she opened them back up as she heard the chair Luffy was sitting on screech as it was pushed back, the young man standing up and sighing. He made his way to the door. "Thanks for the help."

Nami's eyes widened as she rushed off her seat and followed Luffy. "Where are you going? Do you intend to fight a whole ship of pirates on your own? While that would be a great distraction for me I need more time than I think you can give in a dumb attack like that."

Luffy eyed Nami then shook his head as he grabbed the doorknob. "I'm not going to that ship just yet. I kinda blew up the last time I did shishishi." Luffy smiled embarrassed at his failing. "Nah, I'm not heading there. You said all the townsfolk retreated to a shelter right? I'm going to go make sure they're all safe."

Luffy walked out the door and started to head down the street. Nami watched him walk for a moment, genuinely surprised at the actions of this young Marine who seemed to actually care about other people over chasing a Pirate or criminal for glory or reward.

He was so different form any other Marine she had met in this forsaken sea. The East Blue had monsters in it that made Marines bow down. It had glory hungry officers throwing away lives of men to take down any pirate that grew a decent enough bounty, or who themselves tried to act high and mighty 'saving' people rather than helping them. She had seen corruption, abuse and cruelty from practically every Marine she came across in this ocean. The greedy always feeding on the weak and less fortunate. But this? Him? This was new. Nami wasn't sure what to classify him as. Not yet.

She began to follow, if for no other reason than to see more of who he was so she could figure out why she felt a twinge of that emotion she'd long since buried. That twinge of hope.

* * *

Buggy dusted his hands off, staring down at the charred body of one of his Super Human Domingos. They may have been an important unit of his crew but failure was failure even at the hands of some grubby Marine. He eyed the other two who were badly beaten up and on their knees begging for their life. Buggy turned away from them, his cloak slapping their faces as a sign of dismissal which had them falling to the floor sobbing in thanks and relief.

Buggy walked back towards his throne and rested upon it with one hand against his face in thought. "The Marines have come for me just as we're ready to make our dramatic entrance into the Grand Line. First one infiltrates the village and manages to STEAL MY MAP!" Buggy shouted in frustration causing those around him to flinch away in fear.

"Then one comes flying towards us from the sea. And he even survived a direct hit form a Buggy Ball if he crashed onto my supermen. He must be an elite of the elite to survive that and still have enough power to defeat the Domingos." Buggy said aloud, stroking his chin. As soon as that weird jumping object in the sky was identified to be wearing a Marine vest Buggy took no chances and gave him his best shot. And it still wasn't enough.

"But he should still be half dead. And the Domingos may be Super Human, but they're not Super Animal!" Buggy cried out with a wicked smile on his face. He raised his hands already assured of his victory. "We need to teach these Marines just how scary it is to make an enemy of the great Captain Buggy and his entire crew! It's time! Let the Animal Show Begin!"

The entire crew began to cheer and whoop as large thudded footsteps began to be heard. Buggy grinned intensely as he saw the large beast of a Lion walk towards him, his most trusted ally and first mate atop the great animal. "It's time for a hunt then Captain?" The man asked.

Buggy nodded and pointed out into the town. "The Marines think they have the upper hand, that they can take us out with tricks and surprise attacks on our crew. Go get back my map and show those Marines the true strength of this crew Mohji."

Mohji smirked and ordered his great beast forward. "I shall have Richie feast on their remains for his dinner tonight."

The crew cheered and whooped at that, booze beginning to be poured again and even the Domingos joining in the pre-victory celebrations. After all with Beast Trainer Mohji hunting the Marines their deaths were assured.

* * *

Zoro grit his teeth and stared down at Koby with annoyance clear on his face. Zoro placed one hand on his swords and made to step forward once again. "I like you Koby but if you don't move from this spot I'm going to be very annoyed. So move."

Koby shook his head vigorously again, hands outstretched as he blocked the doorway. "We can't go just yet Zoro! We still have no idea where Luffy is or if he's even okay! What if he's captured by those Pirates over there and they try to use him as a hostage?"

"Then I cut him out of whatever is keeping him captured and we beat up the Pirates. Simple."

"That's not how you make a plan Zoro!"

The stalemate continued as Zoro and Koby kept staring at the other inside the little shop they had taken shelter in. They were lucky, the Pirate's seemed to be busy and distracted with something else as Zoro and the Marines approached the island and docked in town. They easily were able to tell where all the pirates were, their ship being docked in front of a tavern helped with that. Instead of taking the fight right to them though, Koby and the other Marines insisted on making a "Home Base" first by finding and commandeering a pet food store out of the way but still within sight of the Pirates' base.

It was a waste of time in Zoro's opinion, time that would have been better spent beating up the pirates and getting that idiot Luffy back. They didn't find him at all on the trip to the island meaning he either made it there already or else he was in trouble.

"Look, the easiest way to find out if they have Luffy or not is to go there and see ourselves. And if he's stuck there then we save him, if he's not then we're already where we need to be to cut down these Pirates. You're over thinking things Koby."

Koby shook his head again causing Zoro to groan and slap his head in frustration. "We don't know how many there are, where Luffy might be holed up if he is captured, or what Buggy's Devil power is! You may be super strong Zoro but Buggy might have a power that can take us all out with a thought."

"I've never met a power that my steel can't cut through." Zoro said matter-of-factly. "I'm done with this conversation Koby. I'm heading out and there's nothing you can say otherwise."

At that moment they began to hear the dog that was guarding the outside of the shop begin to bark madly. Cautiously the Marines all made their way towards the windows to peek outside, Zoro moving towards the wall to peek over the top of the swinging door entrance. His eyes widened in shock, as did everyone else's as they all saw a gigantic lion making its way down the street towards them.

Zoro gripped the handle of one of his swords, pulling it out of its sheathe just a fraction and holding his breath as the Lion came in front of the store. The man riding atop it with weird animal ears atop his head glanced at the shop briefly before his eyes landed on the dog. The Lion sniffed the air in front of the shop and began to move towards it before the man let out a curt grunting sound.

"Now isn't the time for snacks Richie. We can go get food later, but we mustn't ruin your appetite with a pre-Marine dinner snack. Come now, we can't be too slow to get back or the captain will be angry and you already picked up the scent from where the Marine landed on the Domingos. Keep tracking." The Lion growled obediently and began shuffling away, the two ignoring the dog that kept barking at them.

As the Lion eventually left their sight everyone in the store let out a breath. They backed away from the windows and sat on the floor. "That was a close one." One of the two Navy grunts said aloud.

"We were real lucky to have chosen this place. That guy didn't second-guess why that lion was interested." Koby said aloud as he stared at the floor. "This is crazy. A man was riding a Lion. And he wasn't even the captain. Are all the pirates on that ship like him?"

Zoro stayed quiet for a moment, eyeing the tavern in the middle distance then looking back to where that man just left. "While I could've taken that Lion there's no telling if there are more on that ship. And getting surrounded by them doesn't sound appealing to me."

Letting out a sigh he turned back to Koby and frowned. "I guess you're right. We may need more information. We can guess already that Luffy isn't captured if that guy was out looking for him, but we'll be in real trouble if that was just a normal crewmember and not one of their strongest. We need to find that out."

"We can't be sure that the Marine he was looking for was Lieutenant Luffy." One of the Marines brought up.

Koby shook his head this time. "No, it has to be. There are no Navy bases on this island, and we didn't see any other ships with the Navy logo on it in port. We're probably the only Marines here. And even if that wasn't the case, that man said something important. The one he's looking for _landed_ on someone. With that air-jumping ability of his that could only be Luffy. He's safe out of the Pirates' hands at least."

"Which means we can either meet up with him wherever he is, or try and clear the ship while he handles that Lion and anyone else that's out there looking for him." Zoro said resolutely. "I think it's time for a full on assault."

Koby stared at Zoro in shock. "I thought we just decided to find out if there are more threats or not!" Koby asked incredulously.

Zoro barked out a laugh and grinned cruelly. "I said we may need more information and that we'd be in trouble if that was a regular crew member. But then I realized that we're wasting time thinking about what ifs and second-guessing ourselves. I do my best work when I'm in the thick of things, and I can find out first hand what the enemy is like."

Zoro looked at Koby and placed a hand on his shoulder, moving him out of his way but also giving the boy a firm grip of reassurance. "Sometimes Koby we just have to go with our gut and do our best. You fought those pirates at Sea, you know first hand how strong the rabble are. Plan for them. Leave anyone else to me." With that Zoro walked out the door and started to head down the street.

All three Marines looked after him, his white jacket a blaring signal to all of them. Koby took in a deep breath and tried to steady his nerves. "This is it. This is what I wanted. This is the chance for me to prove myself, take on Pirates and stop them from hurting people. This is it." Koby took in another deep breath and stood to his full height. "This is it!" He burst through the door and ran after Zoro, closely followed by the two other grunts.

"Zoro!" Koby called. The swordsman turned then took a full tackle of Koby's weight to his gut bending him over. Koby rubbed his head in pain then backed up. "Sorry, sorry! But! Zoro! We need to prepare! If we're gonna fight then we at least need to know how we're gonna attack!"

Zoro paused for a moment as he rubbed his stomach. He grumbled then pointed back at the store. "Fine. Fifteen minutes. We'll plan for fifteen minutes, but then I'm going ahead with or without you."

Koby nodded and smiled. "Fifteen minutes is all I'll need!"

* * *

Boodle sighed as he began crossing the little bridge away from the shelter in his bulky armor. It was about time to go and feed Shushu again. Boodle groaned, the weight of the metal making his older body ache already. He opened his eyes and saw two people heading his way. He stiffened in fright at first thinking the pirates were coming before he noticed that one of them was hurt and taking a second look.

"Hey!" He called as he hurried to them. "I thought we got everyone out already! Are you okay?" As he reached the two young adults however he failed to recognize them. "Wait. Who are you?"

The young man wrapped in bandages smiled and laughed while the orange haired girl gave a polite enough smile. "Hi, it's good to meet ya. I'm Luffy, Lieutenant Junior Grade of the Marines! I'm here to make sure everyone is okay!"

"I'm Nami." The girl said as she stepped forward. "I'm with this idiot for now."

Boodle blinked in surprise then slowly a watery smile grew on his face. Marines! Actual Marines! They were saved! "T-Thank you son!" Boodle cried out. "My goodness, but those pirates must have done a number on you! Thank you so much for coming, we didn't think we'd get any help at all!"

Boodle stepped aside and gestured for the two of them to move ahead of him towards the shelter. "I'm the village chief, Boodle. I've done my best to keep everyone safe so far, but it will be a huge relief to have some aid from you and the Marines. How many of you are there? Have you already fought back the Pirates? If you need to resupply we'd be happy to help and lend you aid."

Nami looked to the side while Luffy kept walking straight ahead towards the shelter. "We haven't sent the Pirates away. I'm the only Marine on the island right now, though I should have a few friends joining soon. Which would make four of us along with a bounty hunter." Luffy turned his head and looked at Boodle, eyes closed in smile. "I guess you could say we're in a real losing situation."

Blinking in surprise, Boodle slumped forward again, walking much more reservedly than before as he followed Luffy to the shelter. "I…I see. Oh! But surely that just means you're the scouting party! The Navy must be waiting for your word so they can mobilize a force strong enough to beat them back!"

"Nope!" Luffy said as he reached the door. "No one knows we're here. And I have no way to contact anyone else. We're on our own." He said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Boodle began to feel new tears of hopelessness sting at his eyes. If the Marines didn't even know about their plight then what hope did his little town have?

"It's okay Chief." Nami said as she patted the elderly man on the back. "I've been watching the Pirates for a while now. They seem to be done with the village and will probably leave soon. You should all be safe in a little while." Boodle smiled at the young girl, thanking her for the reassurance with a nod.

"Yeah, but won't they come for your map?" Luffy asked, stepping aside to let Boodle unlock the door. Luffy gestured with his left hand towards Nami's hip. " The map that you stole from them that they were chasing you down for? I don't think they'd leave without it."

Boodle dropped the keys, staring in absolute horror at Nami who for her part at least looked a little bashful before getting angry and chopping Luffy on the head. "Idiot! Don't say things like that when I'm trying to be nice!"

"Gah! Meanie!" Luffy said in response, clutching his head and sticking out his tongue at Nami who fired right back, pulling her eyelid down as well. Boodle looked at the two children, for they really were just children weren't they, and gaped in disbelief.

Luffy grumbled and turned away from Nami to step through the now open door of the shelter. He looked around, meeting the gazes of all the curious people who stared at him in a mix of curiosity and fear. Luffy frowned. These people looked alright for the most part, but the food in the corner already seemed to be running low and most of the people looked very tired.

"What's going on?" Someone said. Another voice joined it. "Who are you?" "What do you want?" "What's happening?"

Luffy stared at them all, now joined with Nami and Boodle beside him. His eyes panned over every member of the town, landing particularly on the children and the sick looking. His eyes hardened a bit as he nodded in resolve.

Without saying a word Luffy puffed out his chest then turned around. There, for everyone to see on his white vest, was the symbol of the Marines.

Nami stared at Luffy questioningly, thinking that he was about to walk away from these people now that he saw them with his own eyes. But he stood there silently, staring out and not moving. She didn't get it. But then, she heard the first sound of sniffling.

She turned and saw the looks on so many of the peoples faces. Relief. Comfort. Hope. And tears. So many tears in the eyes of those who she could tell had already resigned themselves to hopelessness. Eyes she could recognize easily. She rubbed again at her left shoulder, reminders of her past hitting her as she saw these people begin to smile and laugh and cry in relief.

There was shouting that the Marines were here. That they were finally safe, they were saved. She saw parents point to Luffy's back as they told their children that things would be okay. Someone had come to help. And as she did she remembered a beautiful pink haired woman kneeling besides her pointing to a ship with that same symbol on its sails telling her how she was once best friends with the super heroes of the world in their place. She blinked the image away, forcing down that feeling as she took in a shuddering breath.

Nami looked back at Luffy. His eyes were focused, but instead of a smile like she expected all she saw was that same serious frown. He obviously knew that these people were looking to him and praising him, so why didn't he look happy?

Luffy stared ahead, looking at the large figure leaving the town border. He raised his left hand then lightly slapped himself, much to Nami's apparent shock as he heard her gasp. He turned to look at her and motioned his head out the door. Nami moved around and looked back out the door, paling as she saw it. "Am I loopy form that cannonball still, or is that a giant lion?" Luffy asked her quietly.

Nami felt her legs getting a little weak. Her hands instinctively fell towards her skirt where she had her segmented staff hidden. "That's absolutely a lion." She replied equally as quiet.

Luffy nodded. "That's what I thought." Luffy closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. Then he turned around and gave a huge smile to everyone inside. "My name is Luffy! And I'm a Marine. Don't worry everybody, my friends and I are going to take back your town and stop this Pirate attack! You don't need to be afraid any more!"

As the townspeople cheered Boodle gaped once again at Luffy. The boy had told him there wasn't much help coming at all, that it was pretty much only him. He knew that the boy was probably just putting on a brave face and trying to raise everyone's morale…but at the same time something inside of Boodle believed him. For some reason he couldn't explain, Boodle felt like this boy wouldn't let them down.

Luffy looked at everyone and took a deep breath again. "What would grandpa say?" He said to himself quietly, though not enough so that Nami didn't hear him with how close she was. "Hmm…maybe…"

Luffy coughed and pointed outside. "You might all hear some scary things outside. We're gonna have to fight and give it our all but it will sound bad. Don't worry though! No matter what I will make sure you are all safe."

The people cheered again, some weeping in joy as Luffy smiled at them all. The moment was short lived however as a deafening roar drowned out all other sound. Everyone inside quieted down in fear and terror. Frowning, Luffy turned away from everyone and began to walk outside.

A hand grabbed his shoulder. Turning he saw Boodle trying to hold him back. "You can't go out there boy! Look at you! That man will kill you!"

Luffy looked at Boodle then grinned shaking his head. "He can't kill me. I'm stronger than I look." Luffy laughed and gave the chief a meaningful nod. "I promised to protect you all. And I will. Now, can you let go of my shoulder? That really hurts." Luffy laughed off the pain as Boodle quickly moved his hand away.

Luffy walked forward flanked by Nami as they approached the bridge, the Lion on the other side. Nami gulped while Luffy stood tall. He tested to see if he could move his right hand again but it still felt like dead weight. His body was still incredibly sore. He was very much not at one hundred percent. Still, there was a bad guy ahead of him.

"Hey!" He shouted at the man atop the lion. "What with those weird ears on your head!"

Nami nearly slapped her own face. Of course this idiot would break the tension with a dumb question like that. She had to admit though; this guy did look very weird. Animal ears on top, a chest full of what looked like fur. Strange didn't begin to cover it.

"How dare you!" The man said in clear anger. "You idiot! This is my hair!"

"That just makes it weirder." Luffy said sniggering as the man got more and more upset.

The man growled like an animal and raised a whip. "Now you've done it! You've angered Mohji the Beast Trainer! First mate of the Buggy Pirates! Prepare for death!" Mohji barked out an order and the Lion roared, rushing down the bridge towards the two of them.

Nami backed away, getting some distance for herself before she realized that Luffy hadn't moved at all. Suddenly a thought blindsided her. He may have been tough and strong but Luffy was still hurt. Was he too injured to move away fast enough?! "Luffy!" Nami shouted just as the Lion reached the boy.

"Bad cat!" Luffy shouted. He reached forward with his left arm and grabbed a piece of the Lions mane before he grunted with exertion and began to turn around pulling the lion with him. "It's time for your bath!" Luffy pulled fiercely and let the Lion's momentum help him redirect the giant predator into the small river next to the bride headfirst.

"Richie!" Mohji shouted in panic as the Lion hit the bottom of the shallow river hard. "You bastard! You'll pay for that!" Mohji proclaimed as he leaped off the Lions back and landed in front of Luffy with his whip raised.

Before Mohji could do anything however he felt a sharp pain to the top of his head then saw only darkness. As he collapsed on the ground Luffy saw Nami behind Mohji, a staff in her hands and poised directly over Mohji's head. She had struck him hard on his head from behind the moment she had an opening.

Smirking, Nami tossed her hair back and opened her mouth to say something clever when Richie the Lion surged out of the water of the river, his mane soaked and a large bump on his head. Nami screamed in fear and leaped away as the Lion tried to swipe a giant paw at her before turning on Luffy with his mouth open and ready to bite down.

Luffy grit his teeth and pulled back his left arm. "It's time for you to say goodnight!" He shouted as he swung his left arm to meet the Lion. "**Pistol Fist**!"

Luffy roared in challenge to match Richie's, his left fist streaking right into the side of Richie's head just as the lion's giant jaws were inches from Luffy's face. With a strangled squeal of the lions roar, the mighty beast hit the grassy floor and was knocked out.

Luffy stood there, staring down at the beast, his breathing just the tiniest bit labored from the exertion. Nami peaked her head around the corner of the shelter then whooped as she saw the giant thing out cold on the ground. She rushed over towards Luffy just as the boy raised his left fist into the air. Behind them she could hear the beginnings of shouts and cheers from those inside that had no doubt watched the short battle.

Nami slowed down and waved at the people reservedly then turned to Luffy. "That was incredible Luffy. I knew you were strong but you took out that giant thing with only one punch!"

Luffy smiled at Nami for a moment and flexed his left hand. "Shishishi. It wasn't anything too great. My grandpa hits way harder than I do. He could've knocked out that lion with one finger even if he was hurt like I am."

Nami smiled and shook her head. "You're crazy Luffy. So what now? If he was sent to look for you then there will be others. Are you going to stay here and beat up each challenger one by one?"

Luffy shook his head. "No. Like I told them inside I'm going to send these pirates packing. But for that we need that guy." He pointed at Mohji. "Can you go inside and ask for some rope? We can tie him up and then offer him to the Pirates in exchange for them leaving."

Nami widened her eyes in surprise. "You're going to let the Pirates leave? Why? You're strong enough that you could probably beat them all up yourself."

Luffy frowned and licked his lips. "I don't know. There will be a lot of Pirates. I'm still hurt and sore. I can't do most of my techniques with my body like this, my right arm isn't working still, and it hurt me to put that much strength into my punch right now against that lion. My body has a lot of strength left in it, but I don't know if it can withstand it right now." Luffy turned to Nami and stared right into her eyes. "I don't know if I can win right now. Using him is my best shot. If it doesn't work then hopefully I can still do this on my own. Either way that should be enough time and distraction for you to get what you want."

Nami blinked in surprise for a moment before looking away, her eyes half lidded as she thought about her plan. "Right. That would help a lot. Thank you." She said listlessly. "I'll grab the rope for you. Hold on." She retreated back into the shelter and came out a few moments later with rope before beginning to tie Mohji up.

Nami stared hard in front of her focusing on her work. She was a thief. She had responsibilities to people. She had a plan, a mission. This was all for the sake of others. She was an evil woman, she knew that already. She had made peace with that over and over, killing her emotions and cutting all ties. What did it matter if some useless Marine was risking their life for others? She was doing the same. She needed the money. That wa what was most important.

So why did it hit her so bad when Luffy immediately jumped to her sneaking on the ship and doing exactly what she said she'd do instead of helping him out? She had a plan already. She was a thief. A Pirate.

She tried not to think about how disappointed the eyes of a pink haired woman would be if she saw her right now.

* * *

Buggy stared down at the three pathetic Marines with extreme distaste. The bastards had snuck up and set fire to the tavern they had commandeered, tossing in bottles of what looked like rubbing alcohol for animals with rags set aflame inside each. His men worked quickly to ensure the fire didn't spread towards their ship, but there was a trap of large bags of kibble set to fall on his crew that knocked them out or into the ocean and out of the battle until they could make their way up the ropes to the ship. Not too long of an issue but one regardless.

"These are the Marines that have given my crew so much trouble? None of them look hurt and they're all men so these aren't the ones Mohji is looking for. Did reinforcements come?"

Buggy turned as he heard the sound of a wheel rolling on the wooden deck, seeing his second mate Cabaji atop his unicycle. "Captain." The acrobat said giving Buggy a nod. "The Fuwas and I are prepared to go down there and eliminate those pesky Marines. Not a one will survive."

Buggy grinned and hiked his thumb over his shoulder. "Go and teach these punks a lesson!" Buggy shouted, his red nose glistening bravely in the sun as he commanded his men forward.

Cabaji grinned behind his scarf and reached into his mouth, pulling out a long curved blade. He pointed it forward and called out to the four men behind him. "Go my Acrobatic Fuwas! Show these Navy Dogs what a Pirate Circus Performance can really do!"

Behind him the four men let out a fierce battle cry and leaped off the ship, all of them flipping and pulling out long daggers. Cabaji quickly followed behind, launching off the ship with his unicycle and aiming his blade down as he prepared to land on the small pink haired Marine. They descended on the Marines, taking them by surprise as all the three could do was gape and look up at them, one even managing to have enough sense to raise a weapon in defense before they fell upon the three ready to tear them to pieces. But then Cabaji noticed a blur of motion at his side.

Cabaji counted his lucky stars that he had seen the motion a split second beforehand. His instincts were attuned enough to figure out that was the bigger threat and moved his sword to block the sneak attack. Still he didn't come away unscathed, two large red lines began to bleed near the top of his chest, stopping at his sword. He was rocketed back by the attack and ended up crashing into the Fuwas, all of them tumbling in midair to try and get their feet back under them.

Cabaji landed on his unicycle and righted himself, only one of his Fuwas had been able to land properly, the other three were dazed and groaning as they began to get back up. Cabaji looked back ahead of him and saw a young man with green hair wearing a white jacket and wielding three swords. Three…swords…

"So. The great Roronoa Zoro has become a dog of the Navy. And come for the head of our Captain." Cabaji said as he inspected his sword checking for damage. There were two thin scratches, and Roronoa had one sword in each hand, the third one sheathed. There was no doubt to the man's skill.

"Well you're half right at least." Zoro said, rolling his shoulder as he adjusted to the jacket a bit more. He was surprised that there was someone on the crew that could block one of his attacks. This guy had to have incredible reflexes to manage that. "I've come for the head of your worthless Captain."

"Bold words for someone not on a unicycle." Cabaji decreed as his four Acrobatic Fuwas all got in formation. "Killing you will be the ultimate boost to my reputation before I enter the Grand Line. Prepare for death because now you face Cabaji the Acrobat. You're outmatched here Roronoa. Even if it's only myself and the Fuwas for now, our entire crew stands behind us and will overwhelm you. My Captain need not even lift a finger."

Zoro stared at the strange man then lifted his blade at the ship where he figured someone was watching. "I'm coming for you next." Zoro shouted brashly. "And don't expect reinforcement from your crew! My job until now has been to take out everyone affected by the traps. Your entire crew has basically been stopped already."

Cabaji's eyes widened and he turned to call up to Captain Buggy. It was only the startled gasp of one of his men that let him know to put up a guard in time to block one of Roronoa's attacks. "How rude, turning away from an opponent. Someone needs to teach you better manners."

Cabaji grit his teeth and lashed out with a kick as he balanced upon his ride getting Zoro to back up for some distance lest he also feels steel go through his body. Cabaji growled angrily and began to pedal towards him. "You need a proper lesson in manners attacking your opponent like that! **Kyokugi! Yukemuri Satsujin Jiken**!"

Cabaji spun his blade rapidly and low to the ground creating a billowing cloud of dirt that concealed him. Zoro raised both blades prepared to defend from either side only to be shocked as Cabaji leaped out of the cloud and attacked from above.

"**Kyokugi! Kaji Oyaji**!" A burst of flame erupted forth from Cabaji's mouth and engulfed Zoro, the swordsman screaming in pain as he tried to get away from the fire burning him. He slashed forward not letting Cabaji capitalize on the opening and cut him down early.

Zoro rolled away on the floor and got back up, his teeth grit in annoyance. He stared at his opponent then looked past him to where the man's backup was busy fighting Koby and the other two Marines. It was a losing battle, the minor advantage in skill and numbers putting too much favor towards the pirates. Zoro needed to get through this guy quickly and go save that lot. He grabbed his bandanna off his arm and wrapped it around his head. It was time to get serious.

Cabaji rolled back and forth on his unicycle staring Zoro down. He had to be cautious with his approach. Zoro was a little singed but his breath attack was supposed to be used more for a painful distraction to make an opening rather than to set someone on fire. And with no injuries to exploit that he could see Cabaji needed to be patience in this fight. Once the Fuwa's were done with the rabble they could assist him as distraction and open Zoro up even more.

Zoro decided that he couldn't keep waiting and rushed forward for an attack. Staying low to the ground Zoro slashed at the Unicycle with one sword, his other going for Cabaji's midsection in an attempt to get at least one. Cabaji frowned and jumped with his unicycle, dodging the first sword and parrying the second with his own. Zoro wasn't done however as he twisted towards the ground and let his leg rise up to kick out the unicycle from underneath Cabaji.

Cabaji grimaced as his mode of transportation was kicked away. He landed on his feet and immediately began thrusting at Zoro as he rolled away on the ground. Annoyed, Cabaji jumped back as he dug into his vest before hurling out dozens of small razor sharp tops. "**Kyokugi! Kamikaze Hyakkoma Gekijo**!"

The tops rocketed towards Zoro, the swordsman getting back onto his feet and spinning his swords rapidly in a circle to deflect all of the tops. Zoro lowered his swords and stared at Cabaji once the attack ended. "I'm tired."

Cabaji blinked before he laughed, raising one hand to run over the shaved half of his head. He shook his head and raised his sword to his shoulder. "You're tired? My goodness it seems the legendary Roronoa Zoro doesn't have any real staying power in a fight. You must use that monstrous strength to overwhelm but I guess in a drawn out battle you can't keep up."

At that moment Cabaji felt a sharp pain in his shin as Zoro stomped against it. Zoro wasted no time and head-butted Cabaji's face before swinging his sword against the acrobat's blade, shattering it. He looked at Cabaji with the eyes of a demon as the man rolled away on the floor in pain. "I meant I'm tired of being the opponent of someone who uses such pitiful tricks. You're no real swordsman."

Cabaji looked up fearfully as Roronoa raised one of his swords to strike him down. Then he heard the sweetest thing in the world to him at that moment.

"**Chop Chop Triple Harpoon**!"

Zoro swung down but then froze halfway through his swing in shock. He looked down at his side where what looked like a severed hand holding three knives had pierced him all the way to the hilt. Zoro stepped back shakily, shock beginning to course through his body.

Cabaji grinned and leaped back onto his feet. He ran at Zoro and jump kicked right into his new wound. His strength launched Zoro back and the swordsman ended up crashing against the stoop of a nearby shop. Cabaji began to laugh and step towards Zoro, one arm raised in salute to his captain watching behind him.

"Many thanks Captain Buggy. Now, allow me to get rid of this pest for you. It's time to die Roronoa." Cabaji laughed as he reached into his mouth and pulled out a new fresh sword. "I'm not a real swordsman Roronoa? Who needs to be? All that matters is that I'm strong enough to defeat you!"

"Luffy!" Someone suddenly called before a large commotion could be heard behind him. Turning, Cabaji saw his four Fuwa's knocked out on the ground with a tied up Mohji atop them. Panning his eyes over a bit he saw a newcomer, a young man around Roronoa's age who was bandaged up with a Marine vest on who was helping the other Marines up. He matched the description of the one they had blown out of the sky earlier today. And it seemed like he had defeated Mohji.

The young man stared at Cabaji, then stared up towards Captain Buggy before with a grunt picking up Mohji's bound body and presenting it to them. "This is your friend right? I thought I'd do the right thing and return him to you."

Cabaji narrowed his eyes as Buggy hopped down from the ship and landed, cocking his head at the young Marine in curiosity. "What kind of trick is this? You're fine with letting pirates go?"

Luffy looked at Buggy and shook his head. "Not all Pirates are bad. You all are sure, but I still think you all care about what happens to your friend. So I'm offering you a trade. Either take your friend and sail away peacefully, or I'm going to beat all of you into the ground like my grandfather caught me stealing a cookie." Luffy eyed the clown then the acrobat before looking at the clown again. "So, what's it going to be?"

Buggy frowned. He looked around himself and saw the knocked out forms of members of his crew, including Mohji. He liked Mohji. Mohji was his first mate. And this kid would pay for doing this to Mohji. But he needed to play it off well.

"Alright." Buggy said with a sweet smile. "It doesn't matter. My map to treasure in the Grand Line can be left behind; they'll be plenty more out there. And we'll settle this at another time for doing this to my crew Marine Brat. But since you have my first mate I don't really have a choice. Give him here and we'll leave."

Luffy nodded, thankful that the pirates were going to take his deal. He began to extend Mohji out towards the clown pirate before a glint of light hit his eye. In an instant Luffy pulled back Mohji and put him in front of himself as a makeshift shield. Buggy cried out in panic and stopped his sneak attack from plunging the three bloody blades he'd used against Zoro from stabbing Mohji.

"No fair! You can't use my first mate as a shield!" Buggy cried out as he launched his other fist around the Marine boy, aiming to clock him on the head from behind. However before he could the kid moved his head out of the way in a freaky move causing him to punch Mohji instead.

"Gah! No! You'll pay for that brat!" Buggy shouted as he launched forward and flew at the boy. He could see Cabaji also coming from the side to back him up before something white chased him. "Cabaji! Behind you!"

Turning just in time Cabaji saw the tired form of Zoro bring a sword down right at him. He moved to block with his blade then grabbed a knife from his vest. He kicked at Zoro's wound again causing the man to grunt in pain as Cabaji brought his knife up to stab Zoro's chest. Zoro pushed hard against Cabaji though and forced the man back with his strength and out of range for the knife to pierce him.

"You are hard to kill Roronoa, but kill you I will! You've got determination I'll give you that, but fighting me with such an injury? This match is already determined."

Zoro coughed up some blood and laughed. "If I were to fall to a knockoff swordsman like you than my dream would carry a very obvious fate." Zoro then put one of his swords in his mouth and unsheathed his final blade. "This will be settled with one strike. I'll show you the difference in our levels as swordsmen."

Cabaji grit his teeth and raise his blade into a stance few had seen. "Fine then! Prepare to be cut down by my true sword skills! Face my ultimate attack!" Cabaji cried out in defiance as he charged towards Zoro who had taken a stance of his own. Cabaji reared back with his sword, and then the world shifted.

"**Onigiri**!"

Cabaji stared up at the blue sky, his eyes rolling back in his head as he felt the terrible pain of the technique hit him full force. He stood there, suspended by the force of the blow for a moment longer then collapsed on the ground in a heap.

Zoro stared ahead, his swords still poised after his attack. Slowly, he straightened out and sheathed his swords before taking off his bandana. The fight wasn't especially hard, but the blood loss was starting to get to him.

He looked over towards where Luffy was fighting against Buggy and he could tell something was wrong in an instant. Other than the obvious bandages, Luffy wasn't using his right arm. And he was moving very slowly for him. Zoro couldn't even help with the fight, Buggy seemed able to segment his body in multiple different parts so cutting him with his swords wouldn't even do anything.

Moving towards Koby and the others Zoro lowered himself to one knee and checked that everyone was alright. Koby gave him a nod and the two looked towards Luffy, the only one who could really do anything about this Pirate.

* * *

"This is inconceivable! All of my men defeated by you and your little band of Marine friends! This day couldn't get any worse and its all your fault!" Buggy shouted as he disassembled and flew around Luffy like a tornado of body parts. "Chop Chop Festival!"

Luffy grimaced and pushed through the pain to try and Kami-e through all the attacks, but there were just too many from too many different angles to avoid them all. He felt himself get battered with the weight of several body parts, letting them hit him so he could avoid the more dangerous hands with knives.

As Buggy reformed Luffy began to run towards him, arm reared back for a punch. "**Pistol Fist**!" He shouted as he swung at buggy's stomach.

"You can't hit me with attacks that obvious!" Buggy shouted as he split his upper and lower body in half to avoid Luffy's punch. Luffy went tumbling over buggy's legs, felling onto his face before he moved back onto his feet in time to avoid a kick from the legs.

"Gah! You're so annoying! Just let me hit you already!" Luffy shouted at the clown. "What, are you afraid I'll make that stupid big red nose of yours black and blue?!"

"Who's nose is big and red?!" Buggy shouted in fury as his body floated to his legs. He stomped both his legs causing blades to pop out his shoes as he grabbed himself and tossed it at Luffy. "Take this! **Chop Chop Buzzsaw**!"

Luffy yelped in shock and jumped out of the way, wincing as his body protested even more. He landed and had to make sure to not show how much it hurt. Grandpa had always said that showing the enemy how much you're hurting was winning half the battle for them. And he was hurting. Between getting hit with the cannonball, falling, having barely any rest before moving around town and fighting that lion, Luffy's body was about ready to drop him in pain. He needed a little rest, but he just needed to win this fight first.

Luffy saw the buzzsaw coming back around towards him and got an idea. He turned and ran right at Buggy who laughed in his face. "Really? That old gag! It doesn't matter even if I get hit by the buzzsaw, because I'm a Chop Chop Man!" Buggy laughed again as he floated right over Luffy. Just like Luffy expected.

With a grunt, Luffy jumped chasing after Buggy into the air. Buggy raised an arm and aimed at Luffy. "In the air I'm unbeatable! **Chop Chop Cannon**!" He fired his hand right at Luffy as a fist, only for Luffy to grab onto the fist and be carried away with it. "Hey! Let go you damn brat!"

Luffy whooped as he felt the rush of flying even through his battered body. "Shishishi! No Way! This is way better than Geppo!" Luffy laughed as Buggy waved his hand trying to shake Luffy off.

"Fine you brat! You want me, well watch out!" Buggy shouted as he brought his hand back towards himself, his other hand ready with knives between all his fingers. "I'll skewer you kid!"

"That's what you think!" Luffy said before he swung himself into the air off Buggy's hand to get above the man. At the height of his jump he then kicked off the air, his legs roaring in protest as some of his wounds began to bleed again on his leg. "**Geppo Anchor**!" He soared right into Buggy too fast for the clown pirate to dodge and drove the two of them hard into the ground below.

Luffy bit back a strangled shout of pain and rolled off of Buggy onto the floor besides him. He panted out, the exertion of the fight finally getting to him as the pain racked his body in an intense but slow repeating throb of agony. Sitting up, Luffy looked over towards his friends and grinned.

Only to see their horrified faces in return. Turning his head quickly, Luffy saw the top half of Buggy raised up off the ground with a killer look in his eyes. Luffy tried to get back up on his feet but he suddenly felt a hand grip around his throat tightly and raise him into the air to choke him.

"That was clever." Buggy admitted as he watched the struggling boy with glee. "But my Devil Fruit let's me fly when segmented. When we hit the ground I had already been slowing myself down enough that the impact wouldn't knock me out like you wanted. It seems to have done a number on you though."

Buggy laughed as he noticed Luffy's legs begin to bleed through his bandages. He smacked them with his arm causing the boy to shudder in distress even further. Suddenly he noticed a blade pass through his body. Turning around he saw Roronoa Zoro with two swords out slashing at him.

"Pathetic fool! There's nothing you can do to save him! He's as good as dead in my hands! Your swords are worthless against me! Gyahaha!" Buggy cartwheeled his legs towards Zoro forcing the swordsman to dodge and maneuver away. Buggy turned back to Luffy who was struggling to pry off Buggy's fingers, but there just wasn't enough give for him to manage it. "This is the end for you Marine Brat! There's nothing that can save you now!"

"Hey Big Nose!"

"Who's Nose is Big?!" Buggy shouted as he turned his head in the direction of the voice. He looked towards his ship where on the upper deck he could see a young girl with orange hair carrying a large sack. A large sack that looked very familiar.

"You love your treasure right you damn Pirate?" The girl called out as she moved the treasure a bit more forward. Right over the railing of the ship. "I know about those with the Devil's Power. The Ocean hates you. Well lets see if you love your treasure enough to risk everything for it!" She called out as she let go of the treasure.

In near slow motion Buggy watched as the treasure began to drop towards the ocean below it. Fear and panic gripped his heart at the possibility of losing all his valuables in one fell swoop. "No!" He cried out as he tossed Luffy aside and flew right towards the treasure.

He extended his hands in front of him, trying to reach the sack before it hit the water. He was so close, it had fallen almost all the way but he would make it! He could save his treasure. He fingers touched the fabric of the sack! He had it! He'd saved it! Then he felt as if his groin had just been destroyed.

"**Pistol Fist**!" He heard as a faint echo as he dropped to the ground, his eyes stuck on his sack of treasure as it hit the water and sank right down. Buggy felt tears come to his eyes, and whether it was from the pain of the attack on his crotch or the pain of losing his treasure, he couldn't tell. But it was the last thing he felt before he passed out.

From the top of the ship Nami looked down at Luffy who was still gasping for breath and rubbing his neck where Buggy had been choking him. The green and pink haired guys were right next to him, both holding down one of Buggy's legs right in front of the black haired Marine. Nami chuckled to herself and palmed her forehead, not quite believing the quick plan they had come up with to beat Buggy. It seemed bad form to punch a man in the crotch to win a fight, but considering he was being choked moments earlier it made sense the boy wouldn't care about that.

Shaking her head, Nami leaned against the railing of the ship as she watched the Marines celebrate the victory. Luffy finally turned to look up at her and after a moment of realization he gave her a grin that took up half his face. Nami could only laugh more as the hidden irony of a Criminal and Pirate like her saving the life of a Marine. It honestly didn't make sense to her and she was the one who had done it. In that moment of sneaking off where she saw him getting killed…Nami just couldn't let it happen.

"Hey!" Nami shouted down at Luffy and his friends. "That was a lot of treasure I just threw away to save your dumb butt! You owe me Luffy!" She called down, barely any bite actually there in her voice.

Luffy laughed to himself and slowly hobbled up onto his feet with help from Zoro and Koby. He looked back up at Nami and cocked his head before grinning. "How much was there? Was it enough for your dream?"

Nami blinked at Luffy then shook her head. "That's not my dream Luffy." Brushing back a strand of her hair she looked back out over the ocean. "To sail every part of every sea in the world. And to draw a map of it all. That is my dream."

Luffy stared up at Nami, watching her closely before he closed his eyes and nodded. "That sounds like a good dream." He said loud enough for them all to hear. "Still, was it enough for the other thing?"

Nami laughed. "You have a very stubborn mind don't you Marine Boy?" Nami called back down.

She closed her eyes and remembered a pink haired woman catching her in a closet as a little kid trying on a too big white coat while a blue haired girl next to her had a white hat on backwards. 'Well nothing stops you two stubborn little brats from getting into my stuff huh? Nosy little Marine Girls.'

Nami opened her eyes and looked back down at Luffy. "It wasn't enough. But if you don't mind, I think I'd like to follow you until you pay me back. Then for a little longer until I have enough money for sure. After all you're the one who told me what's wrong with how I do things. It's your responsibility to show me a better way."

Luffy erupted into laughter before wincing and clutching his stomach with his left hand. "It hurts to laugh that much." He chuckled to himself earning a smack on the top of his head from Zoro. Luffy raised his fist and gave a thumb up to Nami. "Alright then. Welcome Aboard Nami."

"Aye aye." Nami said quietly to herself as she left the railing of the ship and prepared to head down.

* * *

Boodle looked Luffy up and down, absolutely amazed at the boy. "Are you sure you're well enough to journey out now? It's only been two days since the battle and you were pretty hurt there son."

Luffy groaned as he stretched out his body and nodded to the old village chief. "I'm sure, all I really needed was some food and a bed. Besides, Zoro's been antsy since he got stitched up and the Apprentices I had with me already set sail on that carnival ship yesterday to deliver all those pirates to their base jail."

"And you're sure those two can handle it fine? No chance of the Pirates taking the ship over again and hurting those two?"

"Nah." Luffy said waving off the concern. "We made sure to bind them up nice and tight in those chains. Not to mention the mountain of pet food blocking all the brig doors and those special cannonballs ready to fire on them. Those two will be fine sailing back with those fishermen who volunteered to man the ship. They should be back in under a week."

Boodle sighed in relief and placed a hand on his chest. "That does me good to hear. I'm still not sure you should be moving about as you are, but then you're the Marine so you know best. Though what about that other problem? With the Nose?"

Luffy burst out laughing and clutched his stomach with both arms. "Koby had a great idea about that. Since he fell in a heap with his parts everywhere we decided to keep him like that. The pet kennels at that pet shop really helped with that. He's all separated and locked away on the lower level of my small ship."

"ha! A dog cage eh? I'd say it's almost too good for him." Boodle laughed a bit more before he stepped forward and extended a hand towards Luffy. "Thank you sir. You saved us all. I don't think we can ever repay this kindness."

Luffy smiled and shook his head. "You don't need to repay anything. I'm just doing the right thing."

Boodle laughed and clapped Luffy on his back. "I suppose that's what a Marine would say huh son? Well just remember that we appreciate it all!"

Luffy grinned and gave Boodle a nod before he turned and leapt off the dock and onto the boat he had been given back at Shells Town. There was a little more space on it now that they were only four instead of five, but he still walked to the spot he had been at the last time he was on the boat and plopped right down.

Looking around he noticed Zoro sharpening his swords on a new whetstone he'd gotten in town, Koby going over the list of supplies they'd been gifted from the town for their journey for what felt like the fifteenth time, and Nami standing at the helm, looking at a compass and checking the wind.

Smiling, Luffy raised his fist. "Alright everyone!" He called getting all their attention. "It's time that we say goodbye to this place and head on towards the next adventure! Nami! Are we ready to go?"

Nami smirked and nodded. With a quick movement from Koby the sails were unfurled and they were moving out into the open blue ocean. Luffy cheered, Zoro smiled, Koby was nervous, and Nami…

For the first time in a long time for some reason known not even to her, Nami felt hopeful.

* * *

_And thats the show! I really really hoped you enjoyed the chapter. I put a lot of thought and effort into it today. I had no idea what I really wanted to do with Nami until I let the story write itself and I think that I've set up an interesting and unique arc and motivation for her here. I really enjoyed writing those introspective moments for her, and I hope you all enjoyed the allusions to her past and deeper parts of her character too! _

_I hope you all enjoyed the read and that you stay with me for this long journey I have planned! Thank you for reading and have a wonderful time! Suna OUT!_


	4. Plans of an Honest Killer

_Hello Everyone! It's your friend Suna No Ken here once again to deliver the newest chapter of The Right Path!_

_First things first I hope you're all safe and sound wherever you are in the world. It's scary times but be safe and we'll get through all this together! With that being said I'll admit that this might've been the hardest part of the story for me to write. I knew what I wanted to do but I rewrote this chapter about 5 times over the course of the last few months. Ultimately I got it to a place that I like and I decided to split up this arc of the story for pacing purposes rather than do it in one go like I've been. I want to thank everyone who's been patiently waiting and having faith that I'd get the next one out. I've had a lot more free time recently too so I'm glD I was able to get this done in only a few days. _

_Now without further ado, the chapter you've all been waiting for! Enjoy!_

_Chapter added April 11th, 2020_

**Ch.3 Plans of an Honest Killer**

* * *

Luffy stared over the vast ocean with a longing look wishing that he could be at the bow of the small ship feeling the spray of the crashing waves. Instead he turned away from the enticing view and glared at the stone slab on a stand in front of him. Slowly controlling his breathing and letting out a breath his hand shot forward with a quick jab before being pulled back as Luffy grit his teeth in discomfort waving his hand. He looked at his bruised forefinger rubbing it a bit before glancing back at the slab that had a noticeable indent in it along with several cracks originating from the dent. Scowling Luffy lowered used his other hand to feel out how deep he made the indent, figuring it to be about half the length of his finger.

"What in the world are you doing Luffy?" A feminine voiced asked from behind him. Turning around Luffy looked towards Nami who was manning the helm. Out of the corner of his eye Luffy could also spot Zoro standing beside Koby tapping out a rhythm with his sheathed sword against the floor as he instructed Koby through strength building exercises. "I only ask because you've been doing the same thing for the past hour now and I'm starting to think you like the feeling of breaking your fingers."

Luffy chuckled and waved his hand. "I'm not breaking my fingers. Only spraining them at best." Luffy laughed as Nami shot him an annoyed look before continuing. "I'm training. My Grandpa gave me an assignment when I first got sent to the East Blue to start my service proper, and that was to master the final three of six techniques. I've almost got the fourth one down, I can feel it…but training it SUCKS because my finger keeps getting hurt!" Luffy complained with a groan as he sat down on the deck.

Nami raised her brows and shrugged at the antics of her…friend? He certainly wasn't her Captain or Commanding Officer. Employer wasn't even in the right area either. Companion fit well enough she supposed.

Nami sighed and rolled her eyes at Luffy. "Can't you just lie and tell your grandpa you mastered them all? Seems like too much work that's only going to leave you fingerless in the end."

Luffy's whole body shivered in apprehension as he began to sweat like a worried child. "N-no, I should definitely do it properly. Lying to Grandpa never ends well." Luffy explained, laughing nervously.

Nami frowned and was about to ask more when she suddenly smelled something come on the newest ocean breeze. Turning her head she focused on into the distance, noticing something.

Luffy popped up next to Nami and squinted in the same direction. "What're you looking at? Storm clouds?" He asked.

Nami focused a bit more then frowned. She began to steer the ship a bit away fro that point. "Those black clouds in the distance aren't storm clouds. I smelled the tinge of ash on the air just now on the breeze coming from that direction. The only explanation is that there's a fire on some island over that way. So I'm taking us around in case of trouble."

As Nami began turning the wheel more she suddenly felt a huge amount of resistance. Looking down she noticed Luffy's grip holding the wheel tightly, his eyes still on the horizon. Understanding hit Nami in an instant and she crossed her arms looking sternly at her companion. "Luffy no. It would be better to stay out of trouble. Whatever's going on over there isn't our business."

"Just like it wasn't your business when you saved me by distracting Buggy?" Luffy asked turning to face Nami, said girl blinking and reeling back a bit. "We need to help everyone we can Nami. You made the choice to hop on board with me saying that I needed to show you a better way. Well, part of that means we can't run away from warning signs lie that."

Luffy let go of the wheel and backed off from Nami to give her some breathing room. "There could be people there that need our help. Even if it's not pirates and just a normal fire we can help with the relief effort." Luffy turned back to the horizon, pointing right towards where the sky was slowing beginning to darken with unnatural clouds. "Set course! Koby, Zoro, get ready to move! There are people that might need our help!"

Nami turned away from Luffy to watch as Zoro helped Koby up, the short boy wiping his face with a rag. Zoro nodded encouragingly then walked to Luffy where the two began talking, Luffy moving his arms in the direction of the smoke clouds and beginning to fill the green haired swordsman in.

Nami frowned slightly in worry but took a breath and got the small ship on track towards where Luffy wanted it. Hardening her gaze she worked the ship as best she could. She had resolved to follow Luffy and see just what the boy could do off of some feeling in her gut. Something about him made her want to believe something but she couldn't pin down what yet. All she knew was that for now Luffy was right.

How many nights had she cried as a child, wishing someone would come and rescue her and her village? How many times had she had her hopes crushed by the greed and callous nature of others? How many times had she had to harden herself to do something she knew felt wrong just for the sake of looking like she belonged with monsters? There was no one out here to stop her from being that person she always hoped for as a child for someone else now though. She had thrown her lot in with these people on a last moment's whim, now it was time to play the part…for now.

Koby walked towards Nami, breath slightly labored from his training. "Nami, you've been navigating these parts for a while now right? Do you have an idea of where we're heading?"

Nodding, Nami pointed to a small map clipped to a board near her. "We're passing pretty much through the center of the East Blue right now, and if I'm right we're heading straight towards an archipelago named the Gecko Islands."

* * *

As the ship approached the coast of the Gecko islands Koby's eyes widened in distress. "Pirates!" He shouted to the others from his position on the small crows nest.

In a small burst of speed Luffy was up there besides him, hopping on the air as he looked at where Koby was pointing. There, a large ship with a bow stylized after a black cat was moored on the beach. There were also a few bodies on the ground leading up a natural slope that led to where the smoke was pouring from now.

Luffy landed back on the deck with a scowl and backed up a bit to give himself room. As he started to move forward he suddenly found Zoro in his path.

"You're not going anywhere on your own this time Luffy." The green haired young man proclaimed. "Last time you went off by yourself I was stuck trying to find you. This time if you're leaping ahead you're gonna take me with you."

Luffy stared at Zoro blankly for a moment before suddenly grinning. He hopped back and began loosening up his arm. "Alright Zoro. If you don't want to wait either you could've just said so shishishi. Let's go!" Luffy shouted charging ahead right at Zoro.

Zoro's eyes widened as Luffy charged at him. "Wait Luffy you're not going to-ACK!" He was suddenly cut off as Luffy's arm hooked into Zoro's stomach lifting the swordsman off his feet. With a shout the young Marine leaped off the ship and carried his friend along for the ride through the air.

Zoro struggled for a moment to keep in his lunch, as the sensation of lurching to and fro in the air was definitely an uncomfortable one. Shaking his head he turned to his friend and shouted in anger. "You idiot, I meant for you to help carry me or something, not for you to tackled me and drag me off!"

"That would have taken too long!" Luffy said before Zoro suddenly felt no support under him. Blinking he realized the Luffy had tossed him up a little and was rearing back his fist.

"Luffy!" Zoro shouted as he began to piece together the boy's plan.

"You check out the ship Zoro, I'll investigate the bodies and go inland! Meet you there! **Pistol Fist!**" Zoro raised his sheathes just in time as a fist struck them sending him flying towards the ship.

"I'll kill you later!" He shouted as the boy continued on laughing openly. Zoro grit his teeth and turned, readying himself to land on the deck of the ship. With a quick slash to the mast Zoro bled off some momentum and rolled as he hit the deck, coming back up onto his feet with one sword in the ready position in case of enemies.

Looking around there didn't seem to be any pirates left aboard the ship. Carefully moving as quickly as he could Zoro began to search the top of the ship for any signs of life. Just as he was about to head below to search more his instincts screamed at him to move. Leaning back almost at the waist he narrowly dodged what looked like a claw swipe from cutting into him.

Rolling to the side he then had to quickly leap back as something huge overshadowed him, slamming into the deck and breaking some of the wood with its power. Getting to his feet properly Zoro looked warily at his two attackers. Then looked at a loss as he realized how weird they appeared.

"Well well Buchi, it seems we have a Marine investigating our ship if that white jacket is anything to go by." The tall muscle armed hunchback of the two said as he flexed his clawed fingers slowly.

"Yeah Sham, what a shame he had to run into us two ship guardians. He doesn't know how badly he's set himself up to die." The fat caped one said, staring blankly at Zoro.

Zoro just groaned and shook his head. "First the fat cow, then that unicycle guy, and now these two weirdoes. Does Luffy just have a thing about running into strange enemies?" He wondered aloud as he reached for another sword, only to freeze in shock as he felt nothing.

"Oh, are you looking for these?" The hunchback - Sham – asked suddenly pulling out two katana from behind him. "You let your guard down during my initial sneak attack making it easy to take these from you."

Zoro grit his teeth and took a measured step forward. "It's a shame though, I don't really need swords like these. Guess I'll just toss them." Sham said, casually throwing Zoro's katana behind the two of them.

Zoro glared at Sham, his anger rising at the blatant disrespect. Getting into a stance Zoro moved forward determined to end the fight quickly now that the two didn't have the element of surprise.

Buchi smirked and stomped his foot on one of the floorboards of the ship near him, causing it to jut up and catch Zoro in the gut stopping him. Sham then leaped forward, twisting in the air as he tried to get behind Zoro and slash him. Moving to block the attack he was surprised when shams foot caught hold of a railing, which he used to pull himself out of Zoro's range with ease. At that moment Zoro was blindsided with a tackle from behind as Buchi rammed into him.

Grunting Zoro slashed behind him trying to get the large man only for sham to have come behind Buchi pulling his cape to get him to safety. Zoro stumbled back to a proper defensive postion and glared at the two.

"He still doesn't understand does he Sham?" Buchi laughed as he began to flex.

"Indeed not Buchi!" Sham proclaimed as he too posed. "You best prepare yourself for death marine, because you now face the pride of the Black Cat Pirates, the Nyaban brothers! And you face them in their element as Ships Guardians where the entire ship is their playground! You have no hope for victory here!"

Zoro grit his teeth and readied himself as he saw the two prepare for another attack. If only he had his other swords this would be much easier. With only one…this was going to be tricky.

* * *

Luffy ran down the road towards the burning village. Once he had checked out some of the bodies as belonging to Pirates he figured that some townsfolk must have banded together or some militia had fought an initial skirmish with the pirates before retreating back to the village.

Nami and Koby should've landed by now so they could clean up the beach then meet him there, but Luffy knew he had to get to the village. If people were there fighting he could be the deciding factor on if someone lived or died.

Coming into the town proper Luffy noticed a few more downed pirates but many more looting the abandoned homes and setting blazes to crops and houses. Gritting his teeth in anger he still rushed past them, looking for anyone in immediate danger.

"Hey you! Stop!" He heard from someone. Turning he saw a pirate heading right towards him, others looking his was as well. Damn, he had been spotted.

"Get out of my way!" Luffy cried out as his fist reared back. He punched the man hard in the face as he ran past him sending him into a building wall. Luffy's feet pounded against the road as he saw more and more pirates the more he ran towards the center of town, his fists taking out any that got in his way.

As he made it to the center of town Luffy noticed a group of civilians doing their best to hold out in what appeared to be a restaurant using makeshift weapons to fight the pirates back from the windows and door. Without hesitation Luffy threw himself forward and whipped his leg out in a devastating kick that knocked every pirate in front of the door away. Not waiting a moment he hurriedly took care of the other pirates trying to get in until there was a pile of downed bodies in front of the restaurant.

At first shocked by the boy's sudden appearance, the people inside cheered as the pirates were defeated. "Thank you sir!" One of the men inside said, coming out to shake Luffy's hand. Luffy nodded and asked if everyone was all right. "We're fine for the most part, though we might not have been for much longer. Luckily some kids who were heading down to the shore noticed the pirates coming and were able to warn us. At first we didn't believe them thinking it was a trick, but as we all got outside we saw them and were able to get most of the women and children to flee to the next town before the fighting began."

Luffy nodded and let out a small sigh of relief at the village not being victim to a surprise attack. Giving a reassuring smile he punched his fist. "The job isn't finished yet. There're still a good number of pirates taking their time pillaging the outskirts of your town that will need to be fought back. Did any of you get a good look at how many were coming, or if they were looking for something specific?"

"I know!" A small boy with cracked glasses suddenly piped up coming from behind several of the men. "There had to be at least seven or eight dozen pirates coming, and when I snuck back here I noticed almost half heading towards the mansion where Miss Kaya lives!"

"The mansion!" One of the men said in surprise. "Oh no! If the pirates focus on the mansion the guards will be overwhelmed! Merry and Klahadore won't be able to get Miss Kaya out in time once that happens!"

Luffy blinked and frowned. The proper thing to do would be to watch over and defend these civilians, maybe work them into a quick militia that could fight back the invading pirates. It would be a shame for this Kaya person and her staff but there were more lives in front of hi that he could absolutely help rather than risking everything on the off chance he could help just a few more people.

But he'd never be able to live with himself if he didn't try to save everyone.

"Alright now don't worry. I'll head out and see if I can help this Kaya person. I have reinforcements coming and they should be able to assist you until I return, but you have to stay and hold this place for now. Put weight in front of the doors and stay clear of the windows to avoid notice until my friends arrive. Places can be rebuilt but people can't be replaced." Luffy finished his instructions with a harsh look to ensure they understood him.

Shakily the villager directly in front of him nodded and got the rest back inside the restaurant. Hopeful that he was making the right choice Luffy looked far up the hills towards what must have been the Mansion's estate. Licking his lips he raised one foot, then as soon as he stepped forward he vanished out of sight.

* * *

Koby watched as Nami silently climbed a rope hanging off the pirate ship as he stood at the top of the slope. He bit his lip, anxious as his newest comrade slipped into one of the portholes and into the ship's hull proper. Turning, Koby started jogging towards the village down the road all the while hoping that Nami and Zoro would be all right.

The plan was supposed to be simple, or at least that's how Nami put it. They heard Zoro fighting with someone on the ship, meaning that whoever was up there must be distracted. Since she was the best at sneaking around it was up to her to go in and see if there was anything on the ship they could use against the pirates like how she had used Buggy's treasure against him.

Koby didn't like it, but Nami was insistent that she executes her plan while Koby went to back of Luffy in town. He would just have to have faith that she knew what she was doing. And have faith that he wasn't going to be completely in over his head here.

Slapping himself as he ran Koby tried his best to think up some kind of plan of action. Luffy and Zoro weren't here this time for him to fall back to. He wasn't backed up with numbers like when he and the other marines attacked Buggy's crew. He would have to rely on himself if he ran into enemies before he caught up with Luffy.

The thought terrified him. He had spent his whole life at sea fearful of the Pirates around him and now here he was about to try and defend others from those same kinds of pirates. What could he do in a fight that could mean people lived and died? What use was he?

Koby stopped in his tracks. No. He couldn't think like that, he _wouldn't_ think like that. He had fought some Buggy Pirates. He had gone through days of hell training at Sea with Luffy and Zoro.

He was a Marine now.

Balling up his fists in determination Koby began running full sprint towards the village. He was a Marine now. He wouldn't be a coward, he wouldn't be weak, and he wouldn't hide and cower before pirates anymore. He was a Marine now!

And as he came to the first ruined home Koby drew upon his resolve and knew it was time to get to work.

Moving quickly but carefully so as to not alert anyone to his presence – something that he had gotten very good at on Alvida's ship – Koby scouted out every pirate and path he could on his way towards the center of town. He saw pirates looting stores, homes, setting blazes and breaking anything that they could get their hands on. He also noticed the strange motif of cat ears on everyone's heads as he passed.

It took him some time but eventually he was able to get to the town center, which seemed mostly abandoned. He was actually surprised with how fast he had gotten there and how little trouble he seemed to have breathing. He supposed that training really was working.

Moving about carefully, Koby noticed some movement in a nearby restaurant across the street. There seemed to be some marks on the ground in front of it that looked like something was dragged across it not too long ago. Focusing again on trying to catch the movement, Koby was rewarded with seeing a man peer out the window holding a lumber axe with no cat ears on his head.

Relieved to have finally found some other people Koby hurried quickly to the restaurant trying to keep as out of sight as possible. He quickly went around the restaurant and peered inside to see a group of what looked to be civilians hiding out.

Knocking on the window, Koby had to scramble to get out of the way as a gun was pointed in his direction from the other side of the glass. "Wait wait wait!" He cried hurriedly trying to keep his voice low. "I'm with the Marines! See, look at my uniform!" He said before turning around to try and show that he was an ally.

"It must be the reinforcements that other Marine was talking about!" Koby heard someone say inside. Getting up and rushing inside as the door opened Koby was welcomed with curious gazes and disbelieving looks. "Or not. You sure you're a Marine kid?"

"I AM a Marine." Koby defended trying his best to sound more confident. "My unit landed here and are trying to fight back these pirates already. You said you ran into someone else, was it a tall guy with black hair in a Marine vest?"

"Yeah!" "That's definitely the Marine boy we saw" "So you're with him?"

Koby nodded and gestured to everyone. "Yes, that was Luffy, my Commanding Officer. He ran a bit ahead trusting us to back him up which is why I'm here now. Did Luffy leave you all any instructions? How long ago was he here?"

One of the older men with a beard scratched at it in thought as he came towards Koby. "Must have been about fifteen minutes now. He made quick work of those fellas over there." The man said pointing to one of the walls where there were a number of pirates bound and gagged. "And he told us to sit tight for his reinforcements. To tell the truth we were expecting someone a bit…more." The man said scratching his head. "I mean I'm sorry to say it boy but you're pretty short. And what's with those weird red shoes of yours?"

Koby grimaced but tried his best to not let it show. "Well I'm here now." He ignored the question and insults as best he could before pointing towards the pirates. "And I think I have a plan to help you all start taking your village back."

* * *

**_Fifteen minutes earlier_**

"Huff…Puff…You'll never…catch me! Not the great…Captain Usopp!" A young man called from behind him as he ran for his dear life away from a group of some twenty odd men in varying cat attire. Reaching into his bag of tricks he grabbed a few spikes and threw them on the ground behind him. "Caltrop Hell!"

Quickly rounding the corner of a house Usopp looked for a new escape path even as he heard several cries of pain from his attack. He knew that wouldn't slow them down too much, and he was running out of distractions.

"Stop right there!" He heard someone shout. Turning around he saw three pirates chasing him around the corner. "Tell us where the girl is and we'll make this quick!"

Gritting his teeth Usopp grabbed Ginga Pachinko and loaded it with some quick rocks, firing them right into the faces of the men. Fleeing quickly he made his way back to the streets proper where he had more room to maneuver. Pointing behind him with a stupid grin he lowered one eyelid in a taunt to those chasing him.

"Remember this day as the time you ALMOST caught the great Captain Usopp!" He said, turning to get ready to leave.

"Captain?!" He heard someone shout before he felt a huge amount of pain as something crashed into him from his side. Tumbling and rolling away on the ground Usopp cried out in pain as his side felt like it had been hit with a hammer. As he rolled to a stop he blearily looked up at what hit him, seeing a boy near his age dressed in a white vest with some lettering on it that he couldn't make out in his daze. And he looked pissed.

"So you're the Captain who's responsible for all this?" The boy shouted in anger, balling up a fist as he began to advance on Usopp. Groaning in pain and trying to think of a way out Usopp tried to subtly reach into his bag to ready his ketchup packet fake death trick, but his body was going too slow and felt too heavy.

At that moment however several pirates ran onto the street and began to surround the two, the boy who was standing just turning to look at them all slowly. "Marine." "It's a Marine." "What are the Marines doing here?" "Does the captain know?" He heard a few of them say.

Suddenly he felt a pair of hands grip him from behind and start to pull him back only to be stopped as the Marine disappeared one moment and reappeared the next standing over him with his fist extended and a pirate now thirty feet back.

"You all won't be taking your captain away. I'll beat up every last one of you for what you've done to this town and it's people!"

'He thinks I'm their captain?' Usopp thought to himself in shock and dawning understanding. 'Oh no! He's going to kill me before I can get back to Kaya!'

"K-k-ka-" Usopp tried to speak out but couldn't find the strength for. That initial tackle brutalized his body and he was still gasping for breath. He needed a moment to recover, one that he may not get.

"You think that pathetic boy is our captain?" One of the pirates shouted incredulously. "You're definitely not the smartest Marine then kid. The Kuro Neko Pirates answer only to one man, not some long nosed brat!"

The pirates began to close in around the Marine boy who blinked then looked down at Usopp. "Wait…you're not the Captain?" He asked, Usopp slowly shaking his head no. The boy then donned a worried face. "Oh man…I'm sorry I decked you so hard now!"

"Get him!" Someone yelled as the pirates tried to take advantage of the Marines distraction. All jumping at once they tried to pile up on the idiot and rain down any blows they could to get him.

Usopp didn't know what happened. One moment the Marine has leaned down to grab him just as they were being jumped upon, and the next moment they were ten feet away, the pirates scrambling behind them in a mess of a dog pile. Blinking, he looked at the boy. "H…how did-"

"Secret technique, very serious stuff y'know." The boy said as he watched the pirates. "I'll be right back. Don't move, I still have questions for you."

Usopp watched as the Marine rushed into the fray and started fighting all of the pirates. 'This guys is a scary monster!' He tried to get up and slowly managed to sit up. His body was still wracked with pain but now that he had caught his breath back the shock of the sudden impact had left leaving him with enough energy to slowly move. Huffing in exertion, he made to get up and run away when the worst happened.

"Found you!" A pirate screamed from behind him coming from the opposite end of the street as the scuffle behind him. "Captain Kuro is very angry! Tell me where you hid the girl now or else!" The man screamed, charging towards Usopp with a hammer made of stone on his hands.

Reacting on instinct Usopp brought up his weapon and rolled back as he fired. "**Lead Star**!" He cried out as he fired the metal ball, hitting the pirate square in the forehead and downing him.

Getting on his feet Usopp quickly hobbled away as fast as he could down an alley on the other side of the street. The village wasn't too big but he knew these small streets like the back of his hand and the best ways to lose someone through them. He could get away, get his energy back, and then go rescue Kaya from that Kuro guy.

Usopp grimaced and his knees almost buckled in fear at the thought before he bit his lip and focused. Kaya needed him right now, and it didn't matter how scary that man was, he was going to make sure his friend made it through this alive. He would prove that he could be a brave warrior of the sea and make proud the pirate blood that ran through his veins.

Turning onto another side street he came face to face with a large group of some ten odd pirates who froze at the sight of the one they were searching for. For half a moment nothing happened, and then all at once Usopp was trying to run for his life as the pirates gave chase.

Usopp hobbled as fast as he could, but one pirate managed to grab his overalls and pull him backwards, slamming him to the floor.

"You've made a deadly mistake, making an enemy of the Kuro Neko's" One of the pirates said as he began to be surrounded. He was stomped on his stomach having all the air rush out of him again. "Where's the girl?"

Coughing Usopp wiped at his mouth and pointed towards the coast. "She's sailing around to the other side of the island. Big orange boat, pink sails, can't miss it."

Snarling in anger another pirate kicked his side making Usopp shout in pain. "Tell us the truth! Where did you hide her?"

Shakily Usopp coughed in pain clutching his side. "Alright. I used my special magic beans to shrink her and hide her in one of the doll houses in town."

"Stop stalling!" Another pirate shouted as the group began to rain kicks in frustration and anger down on Usopp who could do nothing but try his best to shield his body. "Our captain is gonna kill us if you don't fess up! We have ways of making you talk! Tell us! Where! Is! The! _**GIRL**_!"

Usopp grit his teeth and forced his mouth closed. He wouldn't tell them, even if they killed him, he knew that if he told them they'd still kill him and then go kill Kaya. If only one could make it out of this, Usopp would make sure it would be her.

"**Pistol Fist**!"

With a rush of air above him and several cries of pain Usopp finally had a reprieve from the beating. Squinting his eyes open, he saw the Marine from before with his fist extended and a stern look in his eyes. Suddenly there was a hand in front of his face coming from the boy.

"You look like you could use some help."

Taking in a ragged breath Usopp stared at the hand for a moment before he moved his heavy arm up and gripped his hand. In one smooth motion he was hoisted up and back onto his feet. Struggling to stay up, Usopp leaned a bit on the boy's shoulder before righting himself up properly, breathing heavily and bleeding from his nose and mouth but still very much alive. "T-thanks."

The Marine shrugged and motioned his head to the pirates, some of which were retreating and some who were charging. "Think you can hit the ones escaping?" He was asked.

Blinking in surprise Usopp considered running before realizing that the pirates would probably bring more back with them and that was something he didn't fancy dealing with as weak as he was feeling right now. Coughing he nodded and stepped forward. "Just watch. The Great Captain Usopp never misses a target." He tried to boast jovially only to wobble on his feet.

"Good enough for me!" The boy said as he started charging forward. "Lieutenant Junior Grade Monkey D. Luffy! Good to meet you Captain Usopp!" With that Luffy jumped into the fray knocking out pirates easily as Usopp fired on the retreating figures with his metal balls, knocking each one to the ground with only one hit each.

Usopp grit his teeth in pain. His body felt like it was on fire, sore and bruised all over. He repositioned to get a good lock on the last two retreating pirates and nearly stumbled over as his leg tried to give way to the discomfort and hurt it felt. Usopp refocused and fired downing one, leaving just one more left.

'Have to finish this and run while that Marine is fighting. He's a monster, I can't get caught up with him.' Usopp fired again and managed to hit the pirate dead on at the back of the head causing him to smirk triumphantly. "Bulls eye!"

Lost in the act of firing, Usopp didn't notice until it was too late that he had repositioned and backed up into the monster Marine. Screaming in terror Usopp tried to get up and run away only for the young man to grip his shoulder with tremendous strength.

"No! I'm sorry! I'm an innocent little school boy! See my slingshot, I couldn't hurt a fly, don't eat me!" Usopp cried out as he tried to squirm out of the death grip.

"Wow…" Luffy said as he watched the boy who didn't look any older than him struggle to run away. "What happened to being the 'Great Captain Usopp'? You can't even escape my grip."

"I'm trying very hard to!" Usopp shouted in indignation. "It would be much easier if someone wasn't rude and hadn't punched my side with his crazy strength. Don't you know I have 'Brittle Side Syndrome'? The first attack to that area robs me of all my great and powerful strength, so you better be careful and let me go before I recover!"

Luffy's eyes stayed confused as he cocked his head to the side. "Is that why you use a slingshot, so that you don't have to worry about that huge weakness?"

Usopp stopped struggling for a moment and looked at the Marine as if he couldn't believe what had been said. Did this guy really believe him?

Luffy shrugged and let Usopp's shoulder go before having to grab it again quickly as the boy tried to run off immediately. "Wait! I'm not going to hit you again!" Luffy shouted, causing Usopp to give him a wary look. "Sorry, I just got confused when I was running and saw you shouting about being a captain. I guess I messed up there huh shishishi." Luffy said laughing nervously and scratching his head.

Usopp stared at Luffy as if he had a second head, not quite believing what he was saying, but at the same time too tired and weak to really run. His legs buckled again and he had to focus hard on staying up.

"Listen, I saw what you were doing." Luffy said, startling Usopp. "On the ground, being beaten up and lying to protect whoever this girl is." Usopp grimaced and rubbed his sore arms. "That was really great. You're a brave guy!"

Usopp's eyes widened in shock as he turned to Luffy and watched the boy chuckle softy. Blinking back what felt like the start of tears, he saw Luffy's face take on a more serious look.

"Listen, I'm a Marine. I'm here to help this town and protect everyone. That includes you too. You're defending this village and your friend, and you won't stop until they're all safe right?" Slowly Usopp nodded. "Alright. Then I'll help."

Usopp blinked in surprise before nearly recoiling in shock. "What?!"

Luffy crossed his arms and looked stubbornly at Usopp. "I said I'm going to help. I still need to stop at the mansion real quick because I got distracted with this and you but I'll be back as soon as I can to help."

That set off some alarms in Usopp's head. "Wait, why are you heading to the mansion? There shouldn't be anyone there right now." Usopp said trying his best to keep his voice level.

Luffy raised a brow but decided to answer. "This one kid I ran into told me that half of the pirates were heading to the mansion not too long ago."

Usopp paled and began sweating. "Oh no. I – we have to go there right away!"

Luffy stared at Usopp in confusion cocking his head to the side. "I was going to, but why do you need to?"

"Because I thought it would be the safest place to hide her!" Usopp said panicked. "I made a whole distraction and scene carrying a dummy away from the mansion so that I could fool the pirates that I was hiding Kaya somewhere else! I thought that they'd never think to check the mansion, after all if you knew someone was coming to get you would you stay put or run away?!" Usopp asked in a panic.

"I'd just fight them." Luffy answered nonchalantly.

"That's not the point! The point is that Kaya is in danger and I need to get back up there to rescue her! Hurry, we need to go now!" Usopp said stepping forward and trying his best to move quickly.

Luffy watched as he slowly moved for ten seconds, barely going anywhere before he reached out and threw Usopp over his shoulder. "H-hey, wait! What're you doing?"

"If she really is in danger and you need to save your friend then we'll need to be faster than you can move right now. Hang on tight." Luffy said, crouching for a moment as tears began to stream down Usopp's face in worry.

"Soru!" Luffy said before he and Usopp vanished from the streets.

The street remained empty for a few more moments before a shadow removed itself from the wall. Moving onto the street proper he stared in the direction the Marine and the fool ran off in.

"How curious. I did not anticipate a Marine coming to the island. And he seems to be able to move like I do." The main said contemplatively before it was replaced with a low growl of annoyance. "And to think, I was fooled by such a simple trick by that lying buffoon! He'll pay for making a mockery of me!"

As he felt his glasses slip down slightly the man forcibly calmed himself down and readjusted the lenses with the palm of his hand.

"Still, I suppose at the very least I now know exactly where she is. Soon my plan will be completed, even despite these setbacks."

Turning, the man prepared to run towards the mansion in the distance when he heard a groan from one of the downed bodies. He stared dispassionately as the figure started to get up. Slowly the man started walking towards the figure, his footsteps silent on the cobbled streets. It wasn't until the last moment when a shadow passed over the man that he looked up in shock and fear.

"C-captain sir! I'm sorry, we were caught by surprise and – GACK!" The pirate was cut off as four full-length blades stabbed into his chest and throat.

As blood began to seep from the dying man, the man who stabbed him looked down with only disappointment. With a jerk he yanked the blades out of the pirate then slashed quickly, chopping the man's head off his shoulders. A speck of blood landed on the stoic face of the man who seemed uncaring one way or the other that he eliminated his own former subordinate.

"I am no longer your captain. And you have all failed me for the last time." He said coldly as he turned back to his destination and began the trek there. A crazed smirk began to work it's way upon his face as bloodlust nearly consumed him before he schooled his emotions once more and glared at his destination and his last remaining obstacle. "Once this day is done there shall be none left who remember me by the name of Captain Kuro."

* * *

_And thats the show! Usopp makes his dramatic debut in a wholly unique way! Or at least I think no one else has started his debut in the middle of a worst case scenario of the Black Cat Pirates (Kuro Neko's) invasions of Syrup Village. I'll go more in depth with it next chapter as to what the actual events leading up to this were like, but if you're curious as to why Luffy and Friends weren't on the island when they originally were the answer is simple! Due to the events of Last Chapter they didn't leave Orange Town right away like they do in canon! They stayed just long enough (as well as not stopping on that man trapped in a chest island) that they arrive DURING the attack. And without people to support him in the fight Usopp couldn't keep the pirates at the shore. Thus...INVASION! _

_But tell me how you like it so far! I plan to release the next part rather soon so stay tuned for it! Thanks for reading my newest chapter! Suna OUT!_


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